Secrets
by openyoureyesvictoria
Summary: "I was just sane enough to be surprised by the look in her eyes. I had expected the shock, and the fear; my face must be a twisted mask as I fought the thirst. But she was also... determined. She knows. She knows?" A Twilight AU with both major and minor changes to the original story, the biggest of which is that this isn't the Bella Swan we've all read about before. Edward's POV.
1. Chapter 1: Sudden Silence

There was very little I had to break the tedium of high school. The same dull teachers, the same immature students, the same subjects I'd studied a dozen times before... the same scores of chattering voices I had to struggle to block to keep them from pouring through my mind like a flooded river and taking my sanity away with them.

This was the worst part of the day. Distance dulled most minds, so during a class I only had to work to keep out the twenty or so minds of my fellow classmates while the rest was merely an indistinct murmur in the background. However, here in the cafeteria during lunch, the babble of thoughts was so thick I could nearly see it.

Today it was harder than usual. Against the backdrop of the usual thoughts about homework, relationships, and rebellion against parents there were some relatively new thoughts, poking at my mind insistently though even though I'd already heard several times throughout the day. In a town as small as this even a single new person is noticeable, and today had blessed the dull population with an apparently particularly interesting distraction: the newly-orphaned niece of our police chief.

I had caught several glimpses of Isabella Swan in the minds of others and could see nothing special about her, certainly nothing to inspire the fake friendship offered by several of the girls and the developing lust in several of the boys. Her sheer newness must account for it. It would fade soon enough, hopefully before I had to endure many more fantasies about her.

There were only four minds in the room I tried to block out of courtesy instead of for my own sanity: my family, my "siblings" who were trapped with me in this dull torture. However, a combination of familiarity and proximity usually made them all too easy to read.

Rosalie was, predictably, full of pettiness. She dealt with the boredom differently than the rest of us; with her talent for seeing when others were lying or hiding secrets, she spent much of the school day monitoring the students around her for signs of intrigue in an effort to know all of the small town's gossip. She often pulled me into her never-ending quest for secrets that would allow her to feel superior to everyone around her, and I usually complied to keep her off my back.

Emmett beside her was a more comfortable mind to sink into. He was the only one among us still capable of getting poor grades; he knew the material as well as we did, but simply didn't care in the slightest. However, his teachers usually cut him a lot of slack because of how optimistic and cheerful he was. Secretly I thought him a little simple, but a moment in his mind was usually restful. Today he was thinking of nothing more than trying to figure out how to get Jasper to agree to a rematch to the wrestling match Emmett had lost before school. He hated to lose, and with his superior strength he felt he _should_ win; however, brute force was no match for Jasper's long practice in vampire wars.

Jasper himself was the hardest mind to stay in, especially right now. Having come to our non-human-drinking way of life fairly late in his undeath, he was the least practiced of us and the most tempted. I, too, could smell the blood of a hundred warm bodies around us, but the reactions - burning thirst in my throat, a tightening of muscles to pounce, the hollowing of my stomach - were familiar to me, and could be ignored. Jasper had a much harder time, and reading his mind was like creating a second thirst in myself.

 _Edward._

Long practice kept me from automatically turning my head whenever someone thought my name, but this wasn't a thought; Alice was calling me. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye.

 _How is Jasper doing?_

I slightly raised my shoulder closest to her in the smallest of shrugs. Alice turned to Jasper immediately, placing a hand on his arm as her mind raced to possible futures, trying to ferret out if Jasper was merely struggling as he usually did or actually becoming dangerous.

Jasper glanced at her. I knew, from reading his mind, that he meant the look to be reassuring. Alice also knew, though her method of knowledge was a little more nebulous. She and Jasper shared a bond so close that it was almost as if they, too, could read minds - only each others'.

I wondered if she'd also picked up on the flash of anger and temptation to rebel I'd read in Jasper's mind in the fleeting second when she'd first touched his arm.

"You won't hurt anyone," Alice whispered, so quietly that even if a human were at our table they wouldn't have been able to hear. The visions in her mind backed this up; in every possible future she could see Jasper returned to my car after school thirsty and tired but stalwart.

Jasper nodded once and looked away. Alice, knowing when to stop, picked up her tray of untouched food, dumped it in the nearest trash can, and left the cafeteria.

 _...Cullens._

I hadn't caught the first part of the thought, but our name made me perk up. It was my job to keep an ear out for anyone getting suspicious, any new rumors, anything that might require us to pull out and leave before someone could get too close to our secret. This mind was a familiar one, and I quickly found it among the dizzying babble of voices around me.

 _Maybe if I dish on some local gossip she'll open up a little._

Ah yes, Jessica. Her voice was familiar because she had only recently gotten over a crush on me. Her fantasies had been many, varied, and occasionally graphic, and I'd had trouble blocking out a single one of them. There were a couple of points at which I'd nearly broken down and told her exactly what would happen were I to get that close to her...

But I had to pay attention. She was talking to the new girl. _She's faking, I can tell. She looked over at them as soon as she got in the cafeteria. She totally wants to know about them._

I smiled a little. It constantly amused me how intuitive humans thought they were. High school students in particular were often both incredibly unperceptive and sure in their talent for reading faces.

There was no point in continuing to listen to Jessica's mind; she was merely going to relay the commonly known rumors about us without so much as an ounce of horror or even a smidgen of deviation from what we'd stealthily spread ourselves. Instead, I searched the room around her, listening for the one voice that would be unfamiliar.

 _She's not even that pretty..._ A truly petty girl named Lauren, her mind as usual full of cattiness.

 _I wonder if I should ask her out now, or wait until later..._ I suppressed another smile; this voice was a blond boy named Mike, also known (to me) as Jessica's new crush. It looked like she was about to be disappointed again.

 _I think I'm prepared for the quiz, but I'll go over the vocabulary again after dinner..._ Angela's kind mind was always comfortable; she, alone of the others at the table, wasn't obsessing over this new girl.

 _Then what could it be that they're -_ As soon as I focused on this voice, it was cut off as if a door had slammed shut.

I glanced up, feeling off-balance. My eyes met those of the new girl. She looked away quickly, warm red pooling in her cheeks and momentarily distracting me. I quickly shook off the image as her hair fell forward to hide her face; I was just as thirsty as Jasper even if I was more practiced. Instead, I focused on the space the new girl occupied, listening as hard as I could, the minds nearby growing louder in response.

 _I'll just have to ask for help with my math homework..._

 _Ugh, I should bring my own lunch, like Bella did..._

 _I wonder if she likes dances?_

But the space occupied by the dark-haired Isabella was silent.

I heard Jessica speak aloud. "Edward is looking at you," she said with a giggle, while her thoughts took a jealous turn.

"Which one is he?" I recognized her voice; it matched the mind I'd been suddenly shut out of.

"He's the youngest, with the reddish-brown hair."

"Oh." Even with my enhanced hearing, I barely picked up that breath of a word. She peeked through her hair, saw me still staring, and again looked quickly away. "Stop looking at him," she mumbled to Jessica.

 _At least she doesn't seem to want him... yet. She'll be crushing by the end of the week._ Despite her confidence in this prediction, Jessica obligingly turned away from me and changed the subject, now trying to get back to her original goal - getting juicy details from Isabella about her life in Arizona, most importantly what happened to her parents. She was sure it was something drastic since Isabella had transferred here two weeks into the semester and started school on a Wednesday. I wanted to roll my eyes at the lack of tact, even as I continued to try to figure out where Isabella's mind had gone.

 _Edward._ The direct and smug thought broke my concentration, and I came back to the table to find Emmett smirking at me. _You like the look of the new girl, do you? Trust you to start crushing on a human._

I shook my head slightly and tried to glare at him while also keeping an eye on Rosalie, hoping against hope she wouldn't notice. Thank god Emmett had had the sense to speak to my mind rather than out loud. I didn't want Rose involved in this at all until I could assure her that the new girl posed no threat. She and Jasper liked to... jump to conclusions when our secrets were concerned.

Emmett didn't buy it. _You've been staring at her for like half of lunch,_ he thought with casual hyperbole. _If you aren't crushing, then what's so interesting about her?_

I shrugged and looked down at the table. Emmett smothered a laugh, taking my reaction as an admission of "crushing," but thankfully Rose distracted him for me by preparing to leave. We both quickly followed suit, he because he couldn't stand to leave Rose alone in anything, me because I had nothing better to do. Obviously I was getting nowhere trying to find her mind across a crowded cafeteria. I'd have to wait until fate or planning brought us closer together.

At least this puzzle would help me stave off boredom.

I had biology next, one of my favorite classes because I had a seat in the back with a table to myself. Some instinct - or perhaps my glares - had kept the other students from sitting next to me. Mr. Banner, knowing that I could be in an advanced course anyway, let me do all partner work alone. We even chatted occasionally. Last week he had suggested I consider going into medicine. I had nodded thoughtfully, not mentioning the two medical degrees I already had.

I sat at my desk, dropping my backpack on the floor, and leaned back to think of the new girl. Isabella. I was sure I had read her mind, for that split second, and yet I hadn't been able to find her mind again. How had that happened? I'd never before met someone who could block my ability, never mind someone who seemed to be doing it on purpose.

The heater kicked on, blowing directly at me. I started holding my breath as soon as I felt the dry heat brush my skin. This was the only downside to my seat, but since it really only mattered at the beginning or end of class when there was a chance a student would pass between me and the heater, I didn't have to worry about it too much.

And what's more, had Isabella realized it was _me_ who read her mind? Probably, I thought with some discomfort. I had been staring at her, after all. Would that cause problems? Would she tell someone? How would I know if she did, since I couldn't read her mind?

Hopefully this lecture would be an easy one and Mr. Banner wouldn't think to call on me. It seems I had some searching to do. Letting Rosalie, and the others, know that I couldn't read Isabella's mind was one thing; telling them I had given her a clear clue to who it was reading her mind and then didn't follow up to see if she told anyone about it... that would not go over well, to put it mildly. I'd be in trouble for weeks, and there's a decent chance at least one of them would suggest we kill her to be sure.

I winced and began pushing my mind, trying to pick up thoughts or images of the new girl. My effort was instantly rewarded.

 _Bella seems as shy as I am._ Angela's thoughts, in the hallway just outside the door. _I'll bet today is hard for her._

The door opened. I glanced back and watched as Angela waved a little at Isabella before heading to her own seat. Isabella herself continued down the aisle toward Mr. Banner's desk, her face hidden from my view by her hair as she stared down at the ground.

Where are you hiding your mind, new girl...

I was somewhat turned toward her, watching her as she passed, probing hard for any hint of her mind. A little too hard. I forgot the classroom around me, forgot the heater blowing at me, forgot that I was holding my breath.

She passed through the heater's path just as I took a breath in. Her scent blew at me like a potent wind. My throat caught fire.

I'd never smelled anyone like her. Human scents, though different from each other, were all similar; Isabella's was another thing entirely. It had spiciness. Depth. I couldn't find the words to explain it.

I could kill everyone in the room in seconds and have time to drink her dry before anyone noticed.

Muscles tense, throat burning, stomach twisting; I had to take a moment to get myself under some semblance of control. As I wrestled with my monstrous desires, as she finished taking the step that had put her between me and the heater, she glanced at me, peeking through her hair. I was just sane enough to be surprised by the look in her eyes. I had expected the shock, and the fear; my face must be a twisted mask as I fought the thirst. But she was also... determined.

She knows.

She knows?

The thought distracted me from the monster inside. Isabella continued down the aisle in a hurry now, nearly tripping over the chair at the table in front of me. With quick motions, quicker than I should have used while surrounded by humans, I got out a notebook and slammed it on the table, using the action to waft a gust of clean air past my face.

The memory of her scent still burned in my throat, on the back of my tongue, but now at least I had some semblance of concentration back, and enough presence of mind to go back to holding my breath.

She knows.

I wasn't sure how I could be sure. Her mind, as I narrowly stared at her speaking with Mr. Banner, was as closed to me as ever. Were her eyes so expressive? Or was there a chance that, when startled by my face, she'd dropped whatever block had shut me out in the cafeteria?

"...next to Edward," Mr. Banner was saying, gesturing to the empty seat beside me. I had forgotten. It was the only unassigned seat left in the room.

Isabella didn't turn around, didn't speak.

"It's about time for class to start," Mr. Banner said encouragingly.

"Thanks." Her voice, pitched low, seemed stretched tight - with fear?

How could she not be afraid? She knew what I was. How did she know what I was?

She turned finally to head to her seat, and I quickly turned my head away, bracing myself for the moment when she'd pass through the heater again. Even turned away and not breathing, I could feel my nostrils tingling as her scent washed over me again; my throat burned with the memory of how the air had tasted.

It was only a passing thought for me to kill everyone in the room and devour this girl immediately. It would be much better, much less noticeable, if I waited. I could offer to walk her to her next class and lead her in the wrong direction, toward the library which would hide us from view of the rest of the school... no, no, that wasn't going to work.

I knew where she lived. In a town this small everyone knew where everyone lived, and that went double for the chief of police. He likely wouldn't be home until evening. I could creep into the house at twilight and - no, I wasn't going to kill her!

A part of me wondered where Alice was. I wanted to believe I was stronger than this, that the new girl wasn't really in danger, but it was much more likely she was concentrating too hard on Jasper to realize how very dangerous I had become.

The heater was still blowing. Fighting to keep my composure, my hands curled in fists on my knees, I thought of my father. Carlisle. He was my hero, my inspiration, the one hope I had for doing any good in this world while seemingly doomed to walk it forever as a demon. I knew he wouldn't punish me, wouldn't scold me, would immediately forgive me. But he would be disappointed.

She was just a girl. A girl with incredibly tempting blood, but I didn't have to be a monster. Carlisle often said that if we could focus on their humanity it would be easier to resist their blood. I slowly, carefully inclined my head slightly in her direction.

She was as far from me as she could get, perched on the edge of her chair, her notebook at the edge of our shared desk. She took notes at a furious pace, her chicken-scratch handwriting nearly impossible to read from this angle. She frequently crossed out words or starred or circled something she'd written, usually adding a question mark. I remembered that this, her first day, was in the middle of the week and two weeks into the semester. She was behind.

The heater finally ceased. I waited a moment, then took a cautious breath, as holding it had been getting increasingly uncomfortable. The air around me was still heavily scented, but I felt confident in my strength now. She was just a girl. Her blood was just blood, and I'd been resisting for decades. I didn't have to kill her. And with my sympathies aroused by her struggles and the monster in me tightly in check, I decided to try to reach for her mind again.

Still complete silence, but I found that the space was not empty; I could sense where her mind, almost see its shape. It was simply closed to me. A brick – no, steel – wall was between me and her thoughts.

As I concentrated I happened to glance back down at her notebook. Her note taking had slowed considerably, her pen clenched tightly in her hand. A slight flicker of movement indicated she'd probably glanced at me. I looked up, hoping to meet her eye; as I did, she swung her hair around to her other shoulder, her scent washing over me like a crashing wave as she exposed her slim neck. I could see blood pulsing under her skin. I turned away with a jerk, barely prevented myself from pulverizing the table leg with my fervent grip, and resigned myself to waiting out the painful 40 minutes left in class without either breathing or glancing the girl's way again.

She didn't make me wait a second longer. The bell hadn't even finished ringing before she was out of her chair, the door closing behind her before anyone else could get out of their seats.

I was glad of it; I had to get out of here myself. The desire to take a breath was getting stronger and I couldn't trust myself to breathe here, not with her scent still pooled around me. It would be the work of a moment to follow her trail...

I headed out to my car instead.


	2. Chapter 2: The Script

I rolled down all the windows in my car and sat back in the driver's seat, taking deep breaths of the cold, wet air and willing it to wash away the memory of Isabella's scent. After only a few minutes, I was interrupted. _Hey Eddie._

"Hey," I replied, allowing a hint of sarcasm into my voice. "You've been very helpful today."

Alice shrugged. _I got a handful of split-second visions of you attacking someone, but they all cut off so quickly I couldn't even tell who it was you were attacking. You seemed to have it under control._

"Barely."

 _Who was it, anyway?_

Her scent came flooding back to my memory. I buried my face in my hands. "The new girl. Isabella. She passed through the heater when I wasn't prepared, and she sits next to me in biology."

 _Did she notice?_

Did she notice? The question was laughable. Oh, she'd noticed. If my intuition was right, she _knew._ But I couldn't admit that to Alice, not yet. It had been hard enough to admit I'd nearly lost control. "I was a little distracted, Alice."

 _Then you'd better use your time out here to make sure._

"I know."

 _We'll all hunt tonight,_ Alice thought. She was recalling Jasper now, the one she'd been most focused on today. She looked toward the school buildings.

"Go take care of him. I'll just... stay out here. I promise. Please don't tell anyone."

Alice hesitated, but nodded and left.

I felt a slight pang at knowing a moment was all she had to spare for me. But Jasper was her mate, and more dangerous than I ever was. I turned my mind to the task at hand.

I knew Isabella had noticed. It was possible others in the class had as well. And even if they hadn't, she might think to mention it to one of them. I pushed my mind out, searching for those who had been in biology, and for anyone close to Isabella.

This had the added benefit of making the time pass more quickly. It could take several minutes to find a mind at this distance, and once found I had to listen for a few more minutes to make sure the person wasn't thinking of me or my family. About half the remaining class time passed before I found a mind I settled in for good, and not just because he was thinking of me. Mike also had a first-person view of Isabella.

They had gym class together. Mike was more interested in watching Bella than his game; his performance had suffered, but he didn't care. As I watched, his game ended, and he headed over to Isabella, prepping himself to try to ask her about me.

"Hey Bella," he said, hoping he came off cool and casual.

Bella? I realized, belatedly, that everyone else had been calling her that, in person and in their minds. Must be a nickname.

"Hi," Isabella - Bella - said.

"So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or something? I've never seen him look so pissed."

Watching Bella's face in his mind I could see her eyes widen slightly, but Mike himself didn't seem to catch onto that. "Was that the person I sat next to in biology?"

"Yeah. Did you see how he was looking at you?" Mike felt uneasy remembering it himself. He'd caught the malice and the danger, even if his mind didn't allow him to fully realize it.

She shrugged. "I wasn't really paying attention to him."

Every action I'd seen - her glances, her hesitance to sit next to me, her huddling by the edge of the table - pointed to her being _overly_ aware of me. However, the blatant lie completely escaped Mike, who was merely pleased I hadn't "charmed" her, whatever he meant by that. "Nothing there to catch your interest, then?"

"I was just trying to take notes," Bella said, sounding a little confused. "I missed the first day of the unit."

"I can help you study," Mike said, the eagerness in his mind and spilling out in his voice only slightly marred by the chagrined realization that he hadn't exactly been paying attention in class so far.

Bella looked down. "Thanks. I'll let you know if I need help."

Coach Clapp called for an end to the break and Mike headed back to the game. I stayed in his mind as he took his place on the floor, and he kept an eye on Bella. He felt a thrill whenever she looked up and caught his eye, though he kept wishing she'd smile more - or at all - when he smiled at her. His petty teenager emotions were annoying to me, but I stayed put. It's for the good of the family, I told myself. He'd noticed my behavior and mentioned it to another. I needed to keep an eye on his mind for now.

Not a single passing thought of me or my family crossed Mike's mind throughout the rest of class. However, lots of thoughts about Bella did. When Coach Clapp called an end to class, he jogged over to Bella again instead of heading to the locker rooms.

"So, your first day of class, all over huh? How was it?"

There was a pause before Bella answered. "Fine. Good." Another pause. "I think... maybe this weather isn't agreeing with me though. I might be coming down with something."

 _Aw man, I guess I can't ask her out tonight then._ "I could walk you to your car if you're not feeling well."

Bella quickly shook her head. "No, I still have to go to the office to turn in my notes from the teachers." She stood, slinging her backpack onto her back, looking past him rather than at him. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Mike said, disappointed but still determined. He began daydreaming about their eventual date as he ran toward the locker rooms. I pulled out of his mind in disgust.

Gym class always ended a few minutes early to give everyone time to change. I still had time before my siblings showed up. My mind meandered over to the office, where I could see Bella entering through the eyes of the school's head secretary, Mrs. Cope.

"Did you have a good first day?" Mrs. Cope asked, smiling kindly at Bella as she handed over her signed papers. _She looks tired._

Bella did look tired, but she tried to smile as she answered. "Mostly. But I was wondering if there's another biology class I could switch to? I'm worried having it right after lunch will upset my stomach, with some of the units we'll be doing."

Mrs. Cope checked some things on the computer, then shook her head. "Sorry, dear, that was the only class with an opening that would fit the rest of your schedule. We had a tight fit, making sure you had all the classes you needed to be on track to graduate. You can let Mr. Banner know you're squeamish, though, and he'll let you out of class whenever you feel ill." _Oh dear, she looks ill now._

Bella nodded slowly. "Thank you," she said quietly, and turned to leave.

"Edward!"

My name brought me back abruptly. While I was concentrating Alice had climbed into the passenger seat beside me. "What?" I snapped back.

She raised an eyebrow and pulled a recent vision forward in her mind – me, in biology class, with an empty chair beside me. _What's this?_

"I didn't -" I hurried to defend myself, then realized: no, I didn't make a decision. Bella did. Which was strange in itself; Alice usually didn't have unprompted visions of humans she didn't know well. Perhaps it was because she'd likely made the decision because of me?

Alice was watching me narrowly; my face had changed rapidly as the realization had struck me. "I didn't make a decision," I said, finally finishing the sentence I'd started. "But I think Bella is going to be too ill to come to school tomorrow."

 _Bella?_

"The nickname she – Isabella, the new girl – goes by."

Now Alice was amused. I wasn't sure why. _I see. And why do you think she'll be ill?_

I smiled faintly. "She set it up. She's already mentioned to Mike that she isn't feeling well, and now Mrs. Cope thinks she's ill as well."

 _I take it your last hour was successful, then._

"Yes, we're in no danger from her."

"From who?" Emmett asked, opening the back door. I quickly turned on the car and rolled up the windows, cursing my negligence. "Who's danger?"

"No one is danger," I said in a level voice, watching in the rear view mirror as Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper all climbed in. "Alice and I were discussing the new girl."

 _Oh, the one you have a crush on? Have you been spying on her?_

I glared at Emmett in the mirror. He merely grinned. I rolled my eyes and pulled out of the parking space.

Hunting that night was uneventful. By morning, a sated Jasper was again calm and prepared to spend several hours cooped up with warm human bodies. I was glad; secretly, I was more than a little nervous for the coming day.

Only Alice knew of my momentary lapse the day before, and I was hoping it would stay between us. Not having Jasper to echo my own thirst would be a big help toward keeping it secret. No matter how much I told myself that her scent being so powerful was a fluke, poor luck heaped on top of coincidence, I was still worried.

It ended up being unnecessary. True to my prediction to Alice, Bella was not at school the next day. By lunch a smug Mike had spread the word to anyone who cared: she was too sick to come to school today, and he was the one she'd told about it. I had to be impressed at how smoothly it was done. Bella had dropped just the right information to just the right person to ensure that her absence was unremarkable. And, true to Alice's own vision, I sat next to an empty chair in biology.

What did surprise me was that Thursday wasn't an isolated event; Friday found the school again Bella-less. The empty chair beside me seemed somewhat accusatory. Could it really be my fault that she was gone? Was I to blame for that fact that, out of the first three weeks of the semester, she'd attended only a single day?

I turned the mystery of Bella over and over in my head all weekend long. Normally I dreaded Monday, the return to monotony and the need to appear human, but this weekend I was impatient. School was the only place I could see Bella, the only place where these questions could be answered. Until then, I was in torment.

Eventually, the questions (and the increasingly loud thoughts along the lines of "Edward's in one of his stupid funks again" from more than one mind in the house) drove me out. It was Sunday night, only a few more hours to kill before I could go to school again, and spending the time running through the forest wasn't too bad a way to pass the time. I wandered aimlessly, enjoying the fact that I could simply exist without needing to stop and hunt.

Eventually I had to head back - I needed to shower and change, and it was starting to snow - and decided to do so in a big sweeping curve that brought me closer to town. Even when we stayed close to home to hunt we always went 15-20 miles out to avoid running across a human by accident, but without being in the hunting mindset there was little danger. And anyway, no one would be out here in the early hours of the morning in January.

Or so logic dictated. What actually happened is that I came across an unusual but instantly recognizable scent that couldn't be more than an hour old – if that. I had been steeling myself against running into her at school, but out here in the woods Bella's scent caught me completely by surprise. Instinct took over.

I had trotted a quick mile or two, too focused on the trail and on ignoring the more sane part of my mind to notice anything else, when I suddenly became aware of quick footsteps following me. I turned with a snarl but was tackled to the ground before I could do anything else.

"What, Alice?" I growled.

 _I think you're the one who needs to answer questions._ Alice's mind replayed the vision that had sent her out here after me: my head whipping up as I'd caught Bella's scent, my eyes narrowing and darkening, my quick jog as I began tracking.

Faced with Alice's glare and my own face, the monster in me deflated, replaced quickly by shame. Twice now, in the same week, I'd nearly slipped. "I wasn't going to do anything," I said.

Alice saw through the lie, as I knew she would, but let it pass. _Let's get back home._ She bounced up from my chest where she'd perched during this exchange. Her feet had barely touched ground when she caught the scent herself. Her eyes widened. _That's what you were following?_

"Now imagine it blown directly at you by a heater." It didn't tempt her nearly as much as it did me, but I still felt a little justified.

 _You mean this is her scent? Bella's?_ Alice looked down the trail, toward the town, as I climbed to my feet and brushed snow off my clothes. _I've never smelled anything like it._

"Neither have I."

Alice turned back to me with a wry smile and took my hand, tugging me back in the direction of home - for her own benefit as much as for mine. Bella's scent had made her thirsty too. _I wonder what illness night hiking is supposed to cure._

That little adventure only made me more eager to get to school, so much so that I could barely conceal my impatience as the others got ready. However, all my anxiety was rewarded; diligent searching during the first hour let me know that Bella had returned to school today.

A small part of me was still worried - I had, after all, tried to track her just the night before - but I felt prepared now. Even when I'd been taken by surprise I'd easily been distracted by Alice. And even that first day Alice's visions had all quickly cut off. Surely I would be able to handle myself. So it was that lunch time found me watching the door out of the corner of my eye, waiting for Bella to arrive.

She came in with Jessica, looking pale and nervous. They parted; Jessica to the lunch line, Bella to weave between the tables. She was headed right for me, I realized with a start, but a quick glance around showed that she likely heading toward where Mike was waving at her, a few tables away from us. Still, her path through the room took her directly past us.

Jasper shuddered as she passed. I immediately scanned his mind, but it was his power, not his thirst, that had been triggered. He'd caught anxiety pouring off her in waves. _What's wrong with the new girl?_ he thought to me, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

I shrugged. I'd listened as she passed, but her mind was as closed to me as ever.

Emmett, who had not gotten his fill of snowball fights that morning (does Emmett ever get his fill of anything competitive?), chose this moment to make a move. He'd made a snowball on the way to the cafeteria, kept cold and hard in his hand all this time. He knew that Alice and I knew what he was doing, and that Rosalie would kill him if he dared throw it at her, which left him with Jasper. It hit him square in the chest.

"That's for not giving me a rematch on Wednesday," Emmett said, grinning as Jasper brushed snow off his clothes.

"I knew you'd do that," Alice said.

"Well of course you did, little - " Emmett halted as a small ball of slush splattered into his face. "Not fair!"

Alice giggled, patting Jasper's shoulder, leaving a wet mark from the melted snow on her hand. "Don't worry, I got him for you."

"You could have prevented him in the first place," Jasper grumbled, as we all laughed.

 _Crisis averted,_ Alice thought to me. She pulled up a previous vision, sans mini snowball fight, which had Jasper get distracted by more than Bella's anxiety. The smile dropped from my face and I looked away.

 _I'm going to have to tell him about her, if only to make sure he's on his guard,_ Alice thought. _She smells good, even to me._

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Little as I liked the idea of letting anyone else know of my near mistakes, she had a point; it was unfair and unwise to let Jasper go unprepared in the face of an extra-good smelling human. Suddenly I wasn't prepared to sit in this room full of humans and pretend to eat for another 20 minutes. I got up, dumped my tray, and headed early to biology.

The bell was only a minute or two from ringing when the now-familiar scent curled around me. I'd been preparing for this moment since I sat down. I held still as Bella dropped her backpack, sat, and pulled out her notebook, checking my resolve. She smelled good, but I was in control.

"Hi."

I looked up, surprised. Bella was looking down at her hands clasped on her notebook. "I'm Isabella Swan, Bella for short."

"I'm Edward," I said, my voice low and smooth to hide my astonishment. I'd never dreamed she'd talk to me first.

"I apologize for not introducing myself on Wednesday. I wasn't feeling well." Her hands clenched somewhat tighter together, their tension completely at odds with her tone of voice. It was casual, easy, as if... perhaps as if she was reciting lines she'd practiced before. Hmm.

Further speculation on my part was cut short by the bell.

Bella started slightly at the sound, picked up her pen, huddled to the edge of the desk again, and prepared to take notes.

But there wasn't much to write. After a brief recap of the past three days of lecture, Mr. Banner set us free to work on a partner project. Watching out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bella stare in horror from her mostly-empty note page to the equipment set up on our desk.

I reached for the microscope between us. She flinched away. "I don't know how to do it," she whispered. Her voice was pitched so low I wasn't sure a human would have been able to hear it.

Normally I would have just done the project myself at this point. I had little patience for most humans, especially teenaged ones, and would be glad to get the assignment over with. But without her mind to read all I had to go off of was her downcast face, the tension in her body, and my memory of how far behind she'd been the one day I'd seen her in class. "It's not that hard," I said. "Here." I reached for her notebook.

She pulled away from me, sharply, as if on instinct. I paused, then tried again, asking for permission this time. "May I write some notes for you?"

She hesitated a moment. Then, without looking my way, she dropped the pen on top of the paper and slid it toward me, pulling her hand back quickly.

Keeping my writing speed to just below too fast for a human, I quickly sketched the phases of mitosis we were supposed to be looking for, clearly labeling important sections. I finished, slid the notebook back her way, and waited.

She pulled it back to herself and read it over, tapping her pencil on each section as she read it. She finished in a couple of minutes but didn't look up.

"Would you like me to start?" I asked, surprising myself by how gentle my voice was and the genuine patience that was behind it. If only Emmett could see me now, he'd laugh for the next century about me losing my scariness.

She nodded.

I slid in the first slide, looked in long enough to seem normal, and named the phase. "Now you check it," I said, sliding the microscope toward her.

Bella waited until I had pulled my hand back to reach out herself and take it. She looked inside for about as long as I had. "Yeah, okay," she mumbled.

I pulled our worksheet toward me and wrote the phase. "How about you do the next one?"

Bella slowly switched the slides, with a little fumbling. This time she took much longer, looking between my notes and the microscope several times while chewing her lower lip. Finally, she hesitantly named a phase.

I pulled the microscope toward myself and checked it briefly. "Correct. How about you identify them, and I'll write them?"

Though still obviously nervous, Bella nodded. She pulled the microscope closer and switched the slides, naming the phase more quickly than before.

We continued, gathering speed. Process of elimination certainly helped, but Bella also seemed to be getting the hang of the whole thing. Despite our slow start, we were one of the first groups done.

After Mr. Banner checked off our sheet (and I reassured him that we'd worked together, not that I'd done the lab by myself) we sat in silence at our table for a while. Bella was sitting much as she had at the beginning of class, her hands folded on her notebook while she stared down at the desk. After a few moments, she spoke, again so quietly I wasn't sure a human would have heard her. "Did I miss much else while I was ill?"

"Not really," I said, wondering if I'd imagined a slight pause before 'ill.' "Those notes I gave you have most of the vocabulary words and all the basic concepts. You might want to re-read the chapter too if you have time."

"Thanks."

We sat in silence for a while. I half expected Bella to pull away from me again - she'd moved more toward the center of the table as we'd worked - but when she didn't I decided to try some conversation. Gently. On a non-controversial subject I knew several of her peers were thinking about. "It's too bad about the snow." It had turned to cold rain over the lunch hour, and almost every student in the class had come in with their minds grumbling about it.

"Yeah," Bella said quietly.

And then nothing. I spoke again. "Did you get much snow in Arizona?"

"No." Bella's hands clenched tighter a moment, then relaxed. "This was the first time I'd seen snow."

That was more like it. I tried to keep my voice casual. "Coming up here must have been quite the change. What was the weather like in Arizona?"

"Dry. And hot. Too hot. Suffocating." Each word got more impassioned, with extra emphasis on 'suffocating.' Bella took a moment before she spoke again, and her next words were again smooth and recited. "I'm enjoying the cooler weather here."

"How do you like living with Chief Swan?"

"It's nice," Bella replied. "It's quiet, and private, and just comfortable."

And then a miracle happened. A small but genuine smile blossomed on Bella's face. I watched, fascinated, as she continued unprompted. "Where I lived in Arizona I had my own room, but small, and a shared bathroom, and it seemed like there were always other people around. Here the whole house is just for the two of us, with the forest just outside the back door. It's so... freeing." As if suddenly ashamed of her words, or how much she'd been talking, Bella bit her lip and looked away.

I had to look away as well, again gripping the table leg as I had last Wednesday. Her nervous gesture had been accompanied by a blush and a slight swinging of her hair, and the rising color and increase of her scent had reminded me of how good she smelled, something I'd managed to ignore for most of class.

Mr. Banner called the class back to attention not long after our brief conversation ended. It was all right with me; I had my thirst to control and more than enough to think over. It seemed that Bella was calling a truce: we can both pretend that neither of us is abnormal in any way, and in that way leave each other alone. But I also wasn't sure that was what she really wanted. She had certainly tried to frame our interactions in a calm, dispassionate way, even speaking as if she were smoothly reciting memorized lines, but as I'd continued to ask her questions she'd... gone off script, I decided to call it. Calling Arizona suffocating, and and here freeing... those had been genuine. _That_ was Bella.

I had no time to try to talk to her after class, for she left nearly as quickly as she had last Wednesday and without even a backward glance at me. But that was all right. There was a tiny crack in her defenses. I could work with that. For now, I'd give her space.

Emmett and I shared our last class, and he met me outside the Spanish classroom with raised eyebrows. _Stop smiling. It looks weird on you._

"Bite me," I muttered, letting the smile drop.

 _Seriously though, what happened? This morning I thought you were going to punch someone, and now you're_ _all..._ He struggled to find an appropriate word, then gave up. _I'd assume you got laid, but -_

I lightly hit his arm before he could think more derogatory things about me and my mood. "There. I punched someone."

 _Which is also unlike you._

I rolled my eyes and headed to my seat. To block Emmett's continued speculation as to what could have caused my change in mood, I opened my mind and searched for Mike's. I was curious to see how Bella would react after today's class.

The class was still playing volleyball, as they had been last Wednesday when I'd checked on Bella. She was playing on Mike's team and not doing well. I watched through Mike's mind as she cringed away from the ball several times, tripped while running to try to hit it after being encouraged by Mike, and completely flubbed two serves in a row before hitting a good one.

It was easy to see why she was having such trouble. Her movements were hesitant and uncoordinated, her body tense, her gestures nervous. Sports were obviously not her forte at all.

And yet hiking was, I mused. How was she so well suited for walking miles from the nearest path in the middle of the night, yet couldn't hit a volleyball?

Alice and Jasper met me and Emmett at the car. Jasper stared sternly at me. "I think you should tell the others."

"Tell us what?" Emmett asked.

I sighed. "Thanks, Alice."

She shrugged. "I had to warn him."

"Warn him of what?" Emmett asked, growing impatient.

"Get in the car." That bought me a little time, at least. Rosalie was approaching and I had to think of a way to phrase this that both wouldn't trigger her power and wouldn't convince her to turn her power on Bella. I wasn't yet prepared to admit that I couldn't read Bella's mind.

I reluctantly spoke as I pulled out of the parking lot. "I sit next to Isabella, the new girl, in biology," I said. "Last Wednesday there was a little bit of an incident. She smells better than a normal human, and I first found that out with the help of a heater blowing right in my face."

Emmett chuckled, but not without sympathy.

"You didn't do anything to her, did you?" Rosalie asked, immediately wary.

"Of course not," I said quickly. "But all of you should be on your guard if you're ever in close contact with her."

"Like we were today," Jasper said. "I can't believe you didn't tell us earlier."

"Forget telling us she smells good! Edward, did she notice? What did she think? You can't have had a reaction without her noticing!" Rosalie was... not pleased, to say the least.

"Calm down," I said. Now came the really tricky part. "She noticed, but dismissed it. Someone else even asked her about me and she brushed him off." All true, just not at all the whole story.

Rosalie didn't find anything suspicious in what I said, but she wasn't appeased. "And then she was out of school for two days. Who knows what happened then? What if she told her uncle?"

I scowled at the road ahead of me. "I think we would have heard by now if she did. I listened today and no one was thinking anything out of the ordinary." Technically true. I just didn't know what Bella was thinking.

Rosalie settled back in her seat. "Fine. But you're going to keep a close eye on her, and if you slip up again - "

"Rosalie, please, she just caught me by surprise that day. I'm fine."

We drove the rest of the way in silence. I listened hard, skipping from mind to mind, but no one stopped to wonder _why_ Bella smelled different, and no one had any more questions for me. For now, Bella was safe. Well, from everyone but me, I thought wryly.


	3. Chapter 3: Crash

I lay on my back all night long with music blasting, but I couldn't stop thinking about Bella. She'd talked to me. More than that, she'd talked to me casually. We'd both put on the act of being just two regular high school students making small talk.

But it had been so much more than small talk. I puzzled over every word she'd spoken, trying to pick apart any hidden meaning. Her emphasis on the word "suffocating." Her ease of speaking of life back in Arizona, even where she lived, without any apparent emotion that could be traced back to her supposed backstory of being tragically orphaned. The smoothly-recited words that obviously came from her script, and the wonderful smile that had broken out when she deviated. The way she'd spoken of being now free.

The next morning was incredibly frustrating. I thought I had been impatient to get to school yesterday, but that was nothing compared to today, and now I had even more reason to keep my eagerness under wraps. I'd had to tell them, mention Bella's name. Most of all, I'd tipped off Rosalie to the fact that Bella was different. And I'd done it without saying all I knew about her, not even the fact that I couldn't read her mind. I was asking for trouble. But I wasn't willing to stop.

I wasn't entirely successful at keeping my feelings to myself. Jasper raised an eyebrow at me and sent some calming waves my way. And Esme looked at me for a moment before giving me her usual goodbye hug. _You look different, Edward. There's a light in your eyes. You'll have to tell me what that means, and soon._

Soon I would. I was sure I could not keep things a secret forever. But I would for as long as I could. I felt oddly protective of Bella and her secrets.

We finally arrived at school, and I found I was too eager to see Bella again - even if I couldn't talk to her - to wait until biology or even lunch. So as the others headed across the parking lot to the school, I leaned back against the end of my car and waited for the red truck that I knew, from the minds of others, belonged to Bella.

Not to mention it gave Alice an opportunity to hang back and talk to me, which I knew she'd been wanting to do since yesterday's car ride.

 _You're being pretty obvious,_ she observed, leaning on the car beside me. Thankfully, she was referring not to this morning at the house but instead to right now. The cold rain yesterday had turned into ice today, and I'd parked farther away than usual to try to prevent dings to my car caused by incautious students sliding on a poorly-cleared parking lot. Which meant that I was lounging against a car that was sitting by itself out in the open.

I shrugged, checking to be sure our siblings were out of earshot. "Who's paying attention?"

 _You're hoping she will, aren't you._

"Who will?"

Alice rolled her eyes. _You can't play the pronoun game when you can read my mind. You know who I mean._

"And why would I want _her_ to pay attention to me?"

 _I really don't know,_ Alice thought, with a puzzled tone. _But I'm pretty sure you lied for her yesterday, in the car._

"Oh come on, Rosalie was there."

 _Rose forgets that you're the most successful of us as telling her the truth while not._

I was distracted from the conversation by the awaited truck rumbling into view. I heard Alice's annoyance, but ignored it as I watched Bella slowly and carefully navigate the parking lot. She pulled into a space in the same row and several spaces down from me, giving me a clear view of her as she gathered her things and exited her truck. She stepped down carefully, clinging to the side of the truck as she made her way around it. Even then, her feet slid out from underneath her once, leaving her clinging to the truck bed while she regained her balance. I smiled, connecting this care to her difficulty in gym class yesterday. It seemed that Bella was clumsy, and she knew it.

Bella paused at the end of the truck and bent to look at the chains criss-crossing the tires. At that moment, Alice gasped. A vision was rising in her mind, of a careless van driver, trying to cut off another to park in the space next to Bella. The tires were going to hit the ice at just the wrong angle, and the van was going to slide as Bella looked up, horror on her face...

That very van was speeding up to get the parking space now. The vision was about to come true.

 _Not her._

Before I could even think I was running full speed across the parking lot. As I ran I watched the van hit the ice, breaks squealing. Bella looked up, the same look of horror on her face that I'd seen a split second earlier. I had just enough time to...

But then... _something_ happened. My running slowed, as if I were trying to run through water. The van turned in its slide and, as I sped up again and reached Bella's side, it crashed into the other corner of her truck.

There was no time to puzzle out how the van had ended up on a trajectory so far outside what Alice had seen in her vision. Bella was untouched but pale, glassy-eyed, and shaking.

I reached for her as her knees buckled, catching her and lowering us both gently to the ground. Her warmth seeped through her coat as I held her in my lap. She was likely going into shock, and I checked to make sure she was still breathing easily. Her heart was beating at double its usual speed.

I thought for a moment that my own fear was replaying the image of the van sliding toward Bella over and over, but then realized with a start that I wasn't seeing the clip from my point of view but from Bella's. Her mind wasn't blocked! But all I could hear - well, see - was the repeating image.

I could faintly hear screaming. I also caught blood in the air, and could hear Tyler, the driver of the van, trying to apologize. Others were crowding around, their minds and voices shouting their shock and concern. But I ignored it all and focused on Bella. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yes." Still her eyes were glassy, unfocused. Her breathing was shallow and getting more rapid. Still her mind replayed the van.

I needed to distract her, to break her out of this, before it went too far. "Bella." She didn't respond. "Bella!" She merely closed her eyes.

I hesitated, wary to touch her more or move her much until I could be sure she hadn't been hurt, then had an unorthodox idea. She'd been able to feel me touch her mind twice before. Would that help shake her out of this? I delved into her mind, trying to read past the surface thoughts of the van.

After a moment it seemed to be working. More than that, I realized Bella could read my mind in return. Her own face, pale and blank, showed up in her thoughts; she was seeing herself from my point of view. My concern and worry began to be echoed in undertones. And then, with a great, shuddering gasp, she shut her mind and struggled to sit up.

"Take it easy," I said, swallowing my disappointment at being shut out again. "Are you hurt?"

"No," she said, pulling away from me and leaning back against her truck. The loss of warmth was also a disappointment. "The van didn't touch me."

"It should have," I muttered, the words out before I could think about them. They should have been too quiet for her to hear anyway, especially with the shouting around us, but Bella looked at me sharply.

"What the hell does that mean?"

I stared at her, surprised, but didn't answer; instead, Mr. Banner crouched down near us.

"Are you two all right?" His mind was full of worry. "There's an ambulance on the way."

It was time for me to go into crisis-avoidance mode, for the good of my family. I rose swiftly to my feet. "I'm not hurt; I got here just after it happened. But Bella..."

"I'm not hurt," Bella said, her voice shaking only slightly. "The van missed me entirely. I'm - I'm just a little shaken up." She took a deep breath and tried to stand.

Mr. Banner put a hand on her shoulder. "You should be careful until the paramedics get here."

Some color had been returning to Bella's cheeks, but it vanished entirely at Mr. Banner's words. She stared at him, eyes wide. "I'm fine," she said, but a little more faintly. She was beginning to breathe quickly again.

Perhaps I could make use of this.

I dropped back down to my knees, pulling out my phone and opening a stopwatch. "I'm sure you'll be fine if you can calm down. I could check your vitals; my father works at the hospital and I've volunteered there several times."

Bella's eyebrows knitted together but she nodded. I was right; she was for some reason worried about being checked by a paramedic. Even I presented less of a threat in this instance. I rested my fingers at her wrist, counting her pulse, some part of me noting that I wasn't feeling at all thirsty at the moment. "A little fast, but nothing dangerous. Look at me, please?"

She reluctantly met my eyes. "Your pupils are fine." I stood again, then reached a hand down to her. "Do you think you can stand?"

"Of course," Bella said with some fire. She started to climb to her feet without my help, but wobbled and caught at my hand to steady herself. She allowed me to help her to her feet from there and, to my eternal surprise and pleasure, didn't let go of my hand as she checked her balance. I suppressed a smile as the heat traveled up my arm.

Finally the sirens I'd been able to hear for more than a minute made it to the parking lot. Most of the paramedics headed for Tyler, who had not yet been extracted from the van, but one detached himself and headed for me and Bella. I was relieved; it was Brett, a nurse I knew from the hospital. A stroke of luck for both me and Bella.

Brett quickly recognized me. "Hey, Edward. Were you involved in the crash?"

I shook my head. "I got here just after it happened. I was worried about Bella, but she says the van didn't touch her, and her vitals are fine." I rattled off the pertinent medical information to further put Brett's mind at ease.

Brett nodded and turned to Bella. She instinctively shrank away from him, closer to me. "I take it you're Bella?"

"Yes sir." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little tired and shaky," she admitted, "but I'm fine. I think I just need to go home and lie down."

Brett nodded. "That's understandable. Do you have someone who can keep an eye on you?"

"My uncle, Chief Swan." I wondered if she name-dropped on purpose, to lend authority to her words. "I'll give him a call when I get home." Her eyes strayed to her truck, dented, with the van still resting against it.

"I'll give you a ride home," I said. "Since your truck likely isn't going anywhere for a while."

Bella looked up at me with what seemed to be accusation in her eyes. However, after a moment, she nodded.

"Good," Brett said. He gave Bella some instructions, the usual stuff, and finished with, "And Edward should probably stay with you until your uncle gets home."

"Fine. Can we go?"

Brett nodded and turned back to the others, who were by now getting a stretcher prepared for Tyler. Bella looked at me warily. I smiled gently in an attempt to look trustworthy, picked up her backpack which had fallen to the ground at some point, and gestured toward my car.

The students parted for us. I hovered my hand close to Bella's back, in case she should slip, and took time to quickly scan minds around me for any sign of worrying thoughts. I was probably in enough trouble already; no need to have rumors adding to my disgrace. However, everyone's mind I touched was thinking nothing out of the ordinary. Good.

Alice was waiting back by the car. "You're not hurt, are you?" she said aloud, for Bella's benefit. _Did any of the students see you?_

"No," I said, an answer to both spoken and thought questions. "Everything's fine. I'm taking Bella home, though, and will stay with her until her uncle gets home."

Alice's eyes narrowed. _Are you sure that's wise?_ "When will you be back?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. I had given barely a passing thought to Bella's scent this whole time. "In time to pick you up. Can you make sure I don't get in trouble?"

Alice immediately understood what I meant and searched the future. Visions of the near future were all nebulous, but eventually she pushed through them to something solid: me, sitting in my car in the parking lot in the afternoon, looking calm, my eyes the same golden color they were right now. Alice nodded reluctantly, accepting the outcome. "I'll let the office know."

"Thanks," I said, smiling a little.

 _You win, you smug bastard. I'll expect details._ "See you in a few hours."

I nodded, and Alice turned back to the school. Watching her go, I noticed that my other siblings hadn't made it into any of the buildings yet; they were standing together at the end of the parking lot, looking my direction.

I'd forgotten about them, that they might still be in the parking lot. As I opened the door for Bella and set her backpack in the back seat, I steeled myself and reached for their minds. What had they seen? What did they think about what they'd seen?

 _...taking a terrible risk,_ Jasper was thinking, his mind wary and worried. _I know I couldn't do it._ He was only concerned about the possibility I'd kill Bella. Well, Alice could set his mind at ease.

 _Yep, he's got it bad._ Ah yes, Emmett and his one-track mind. _This should be interesting. I wonder how it would even work..._

I rolled my eyes and focused on Rosalie to shut out his explicit wonderings. Alone of my siblings, she was not thinking of me, and what she was thinking made me feel cold.

 _...walking lie. I've never seen someone with such a strong aura of duplicity._

I'd run out of time. Bella had caught Rosalie's full attention.

I got into the car, trying to seem completely at ease despite what I'd read in my siblings' minds. Bella sat huddled in on herself, shoulders hunched, her hands clasped tightly together, trembling slightly. Was she cold? I quickly turned on the car and the heat. It would make it harder for me, of course, but I didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

"What did you mean, that the van _should_ have hit me?"

Bella's words, spoken before we even left the parking lot, startled me out of my worry about Rosalie and Jasper and my own thirst. I'd forgotten my ill-advised comment. I thought quickly, then spoke, using the air I'd filled my lungs with before getting in the car. "That was a poor choice of words. I just meant that from where I was standing, I thought it was going to."

I chanced a glance to the side, to see how she took my words. Not well. She was glaring at me, though with trouble; her eyelids were drooping a little.

She was silent a long while. "So," she finally said, her voice icy cold, "you didn't mean that you _wanted_ the van to hit me?"

"No!" I winced as my automatic exclamation was followed by an automatic intake of breath, but the burn wasn't as bad as I'd expected. "Why would I want that?"

"It would have been easier for you, wouldn't it?"

I almost laughed. Easier, to be that close to her when her blood spilled? Easier, to see her killed before my eyes? "You don't know me at all."

My words hung in the air between us. Uttered mostly out of anger and hurt at her distrust, I now realized they were an invitation. I wanted her to know me. I'd be willing to tell her, never mind my family. And if I told her my secrets... perhaps she'd tell me hers.

"True," Bella muttered. "And you don't know me."

I waited. Waited for her to take my invitation and ask, or perhaps to even offer some information herself. Instead, we finished the drive in silence.

She began fumbling with the buckle of her seat belt as soon as I stopped the car in the driveway. I grabbed her backpack and was around the car and opening the door for her by the time she'd managed to unbuckle herself.

I held out my hand to help her out. She sat still. "I want to make sure you don't fall," I said, keeping my voice quiet and gentle.

"Give me my backpack."

"At least let me carry it to the house for you."

She sat, not moving, for a moment longer, then started to get out of the car. As in the parking lot before, she at first ignored my offered hand; again as before, a stumble had her catching at my hand anyway. I pulled her gently my direction to keep her from falling back against the car and she stumbled directly into my arms.

For the space of a breath, she rested there. As if she wanted to be there. As if she belonged. Her scent pooled around me, but I barely noticed the thirst. Her warmth washed through my body and I unconsciously tightened my arms.

She pulled away quickly and made her way up to the door, walking carefully. I followed, close enough that I could catch her if she should slip again – something some part of me was hoping for. However, we made it to the porch without incident. Bella turned and took the backpack from me, digging in a side pocket and pulling out a key ring with only two keys on it. She unlocked the door, then turned back to me.

"Thank you for your help," she said, her face a carefully composed mask, her voice smooth as she recited her words. "I'll be fine; you can head back to school now."

I knew I could be persuasive. I looked deeply into her eyes. "The paramedic said I should stay with you until Chief Swan returned. You might have a delayed reaction." My voice was smooth too, and soft and warm.

Her eyes widened slightly, but she was unrelenting. "I just need to rest, and he'll be home soon."

I took a step closer to her. "It's better to be safe than sorry."

"I'm just going to take a nap. I don't need you to watch me sleep." Her voice trembled ever so slightly, and her heart was thudding loudly.

I took another step. "If you hit your head or -"

"I did not hit my head." Bella turned quickly away from me and opened the door. I was close enough that her hair brushed my chest, sending another wave of scent up into my face. It was harder to ignore this time. I clenched my teeth.

Bella looked back at me. I smoothed out my face, but it was too late; I saw her expression change. She shook her head and stepped toward me again. "Leave," she said, her voice strong again. "I don't care where you go, but get away from here. Tomorrow, and forever, don't talk to me at school. Don't even look at me." She bit her lip momentarily, her next words coming out softer. "Can't you see you're putting me in danger?"

The door closed in my face. I stared at it a moment before turning and shuffling back to my car.


	4. Chapter 4: Danger

_Can't you see you're putting me in danger?_

I thought of how I'd nearly given in to the thirst the first time I'd sat next to her. Of how I'd caught her scent and automatically started tracking her in the woods that weekend. I recalled the my own fears the day before, when I'd had to speak oh so carefully to keep Rosalie from turning her attention to Bella, and how that victory had already been snatched from me by Rosalie's notice of her today. I remembered the vision Alice had shown me, of Jasper losing his control in the cafeteria.

Yes, I was putting her in danger. Time and time again. And I couldn't even redeem myself by saying at least I'd saved her today; no, instead she'd saved herself.

After driving aimlessly for a couple of hours, I did the right, responsible thing: I headed back to the school and parked, then spent the rest of the school hours searching minds to ensure no one had been tipped off. Though quite a few people were thinking about and talking about the accident, most of them were concerned with Tyler - his van was totaled, some friends who had followed him to the hospital came back with reports of his injuries - and only had a thought or two to spare in Bella's direction, and then it was merely relief, not even slightly tinged with suspicion, that she'd not been hit.

Only two people thought about me at all. Jessica, still somewhat affected by her past crush, was glad it hadn't been her nearly crushed, but then again if that's what it took to get some alone time with me... And Mike, developing his own crush, was furious it was me who had been able to step up and "rescue" Bella when he should have been the one there for her.

Alice was the first to make it back to the car after school ended. She plopped into the front passenger seat - why the smallest of us frequently claimed the best seats was a question lost to the ages - and checked my eyes. _Just making sure._

I looked away from her. Much of my dismay and shame had worn out in the hours since I dropped Bella off, but I didn't want to risk my face giving anything away.

 _Carlisle is going to be home,_ Alice continued. _He treated Tyler at the hospital and wants to make sure everything is okay._

I nodded.

The passenger door opened. "Not today, pixie," Emmett said in a mock growl. Alice stuck her tongue out at him but bounced out of the seat and climbed in the back as Jasper and Rosalie approached.

 _So,_ Emmett thought as he settled into the passenger seat, _exactly what happened after you took the girl home?_ He waggled his eyebrows at me, his mind full of possibilities. I merely rolled my eyes.

Rosalie followed Alice into the car. _You know how much I hate it when you hide things from me,_ she thought, a sarcastic tone in her mind. _Why do you bother?_

Ah yes, that was the mature response I expected from her.

Jasper climbed in warily, worried that Bella's scent would still be hanging around the car. _I suppose you kept the air on, to make sure her scent would fade? She's going to be a problem if things like this keep happening._

That I did not want to hear. I knew Jasper's opinions on how to take care of "problems."

Alice, probably sensing Jasper's discomfort, engaged him in quiet conversation during the car ride home about anything inconsequential she could think of, drawing Rosalie in when she could. Emmett occasionally threw a word in as well. No one tried to get me to talk, and the air in the car was heavy with a sense of waiting.

As Alice had predicted, Carlisle's car was parked in the garage. When we entered, he and Esme were seated at one end of our oval dining room table - the house was filled with normal human things, "props" we jokingly referred to them, most of which were Esme's work. She had brought an incredible talent with her hands into this life and was constantly making things, selling them under false names and front companies.

We all trailed in and seated ourselves at the table. I sat next to Esme, who immediately turned from Carlisle to embrace me. She had only been worried that I would somehow be hurt - her mothering instinct frequently forgot that we were nearly-indestructible vampires - and was concerned because the light she'd seen in my eyes this morning was now completely gone. I looked away from her, staring at the table.

Carlisle waited for us all to sit before he began. "I treated Tyler Crowley at the hospital today," he said. "He mentioned that Edward had been involved in the accident somehow. Since none of you called me or Esme I assume nothing serious happened, but I would like an explanation now." He was not angry, or even disappointed, but he was serious. The family's safety came first for him. He needed to be sure we weren't in any danger.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Rosalie spoke first. "There's something off about Isabella Swan," she said. "And dear Edward has been keeping quiet about it."

I glared at her briefly before turning back to Carlisle. His eyebrows were knitted together. _What does she mean?_

 _Can't you see you're putting me in danger?_

I took a deep breath, Bella's words echoing again in my head. I was probably not going to be able to escape Rosalie's power today, but I had to try. I had caused enough trouble for Bella already. "Alice had a vision of Tyler's van sliding on the ice a split second before it happened. From her vision it looked like the van was going to hit Isabella, and I ran across the parking lot full speed to try to prevent it." I used her full name, not her nickname; it was how Rosalie had started, and seeming too familiar would only raise more suspicion.

Esme's mouth opened in surprise, but then she smiled, pleased I'd wanted to save Bella. Carlisle remained serious. "Did anyone see you?"

I shook my head. "I checked minds then and throughout much of the school day, and no one was thinking of me at all." Rosalie cleared her throat. "Okay, two people were thinking of me, but not in a concerning way and there's no need to share those thoughts here at the table." Emmett snickered, his mind jumping to conclusions - dirty conclusions.

"And Isabella?"

"The van ended up not hitting her. She's fine."

"You know that's not what Carlisle was asking for," Rosalie put in, her tone acidic. "What was she _thinking_?"

I glared at her again. "We're in no danger from her either."

The phrase rang true to Rosalie, but still she glared back at me.

Carlisle let out a breath. "You're sure, Edward?"

"Yes," I replied.

"That can't be it," Rosalie said. "Carlisle, the girl is a walking lie. There has to be more to her than 'we're in no danger from her.'"

"What right do we have to pry into her secrets?" I snarled.

Esme put a hand on my arm. "Children," she said, quiet but firm.

Rosalie subsided, but only to a slow simmer. As far as she was concerned, she may have lost this battle... but the rest of the war was still to come.

Carlisle nodded. "It's settled then. Edward, that was a risk for you to take, but since no one saw you there's no lasting harm. Yes?"

It was a question, but everyone in the room knew there was no disputing it. Everyone else nodded or muttered assent. Even Jasper was satisfied, for now, that no further action needed to be taken.

"Then I'll head back to work. See you all later tonight, everyone." _Edward, please accompany me to my car._

Having been with me the longest, Carlisle was the best at keeping his surface thoughts clear of what he didn't want me to read, so I wasn't sure what he wanted me for. I stayed at the table while everyone else wandered away and Carlisle kissed Esme goodbye, standing only when he and I were the only ones in the room.

 _Jasper told me of Isabella Swan's scent,_ he thought as we strolled out of the house, _and that you nearly succumbed to it. Why didn't you tell me, son?_

I stared down at the floor. "I didn't want to disappoint you," I whispered, to try to prevent anyone else from hearing.

Carlisle smiled a little and placed a hand on my shoulder. _I will never stop loving you, no matter what mistakes you make,_ he thought. _And your struggles will seem more difficult if you keep them to yourself._

I stuck my hands in my pockets, my mind full of all that I was still keeping back.

 _You know more than you said, don't you?_

I hesitated, then nodded. "But I can't say," I said, my voice sinking even lower. "Bell-Is-" Carlisle raised his eyebrows, noting the stumble. I swallowed and went on as I'd begun. "Bella has her own secrets. What I said is true; we have no right to pry in her life, especially as she is not prying into ours."

 _I see._ Carlisle stared searchingly into my eyes for a moment. _Tread carefully, Edward._ He squeezed my shoulder and left.

I went to school the next day with dread, and not just because of Rosalie. Bella had demanded I not talk to her, not even look at her, and I was finding the thought of complying with her demand painful. This couldn't be all, could it? The wonderful puzzle that was her and her mind, swept away from me in one unlucky moment? Would I really never get to talk to her again?

It seemed so. Bella sat as far from me as she could in biology, her chair practically pulled into the aisle, her notebook at the very edge of the desk. She didn't so much as glance my way, though the tension in her shoulders clearly spoke of how aware of me she was.

I couldn't help it; as class began, I watched her out of the corner of me eye. She was unlikely to catch me doing it, so why not? I felt an odd squeezing in my chest as I watched her struggle – yes, now she'd attended only two days of class in the first almost four weeks of the semester. Today was a review day, but she hadn't learned most of this to begin with. Her notes were sparse, disjointed, incomplete. The test was tomorrow.

Slowly, a plan began to form. My notebook sat in front of me, completely blank – of course, I had no need to take notes. I'd learned this material enough times to write the next edition of the textbook. Or, perhaps, to teach the concepts in person...

I picked up my pen and began to write. But I wasn't writing notes. I was writing my own lecture. I expounded on the concept Mr. Banner was currently reviewing. I drew diagrams. I made comparisons. I came up with metaphors. And, as I wrote, I slowly and carefully shifted my weight to slide ever so slightly closer to Bella.

She stiffened suddenly. Ah, she'd noticed. I held still, waiting, again watching her out of the corner of my eye. She glanced my way.

Her breathing hitched, her lips parted, and she positively stared at my notebook. I used one finger to nudge it ever so slightly in her direction. She turned more toward me, looking over my notebook for several more seconds, then suddenly began writing at a furious pace. She copied my diagrams, rewrote what I'd written in her own words. Any time she paused, I'd read over her shoulder to see what had tripped her up, then write until she again seemed to understand.

In this way the whole class period passed. Mr. Banner finished just before the bell rang, and Bella sat back in her chair, the slightest of smiles on her face as she looked over her notes. Perhaps...

"Bell..."

I didn't even finish her name before she looked up, glaring daggers at me. She swept up her notebook and backpack and ran from the room without a glance back.

I've put her in enough danger already.


	5. Chapter 5: A Crack

I had thought high school was terrible before. Now, a part of me longed for that kind of tedium, for instead I found myself living out some kind of horrible daily emotional roller coaster.

Get to school tense. Find myself unable to concentrate on any class for long without trying to seek out the mind of someone near Bella. Watch her participate in her classes, chat quietly with classmates luckier than I, perhaps even catch a glimpse of her myself. Spend lunch in such a state of heightened anticipation that I usually left a full ten minutes early for class. Wait for her arrival. Inhale her scent, which I got more used to yet still burned, as she sits beside me and gets out her notebook without even glancing my way. Feel my heart sink as disappointment sets in. Write notes for her anyway. Hit rock bottom as she gathers her things at the bell and leaves without a word. Drag myself through my last class. Head home, increasingly morose. Spend the night hunting or listening to music or occasionally even hanging out with my siblings, and somehow managing to work myself back into something approaching hope as the sun rose on the new day.

Repeat.

Emmett rolled his eyes at my "emo." Esme's thoughts turned sad whenever she looked at me. Jasper stopped trying to use his powers to lift my mood. Carlisle was clearly waiting for me to confide in him, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. Even Alice, who had been my original confidant, lost interest over time when she had no more visions involving Bella and merely wished I'd be her brother again.

Rosalie was the worst. After days of successfully eluding her, she managed to corner me about a week after Bella told me never to speak with her again. Rosalie had been watching Bella and insisted that almost every action and word out of her mouth was tinted with deception and deceit, and she demanded that I tell her why this was. I refused. Rosalie termed this a betrayal and her thoughts and words to me became increasingly acidic.

I tried to get over Bella. Really, I tried. Every day, as I sat in biology with her as unresponsive as stone beside me, I decided to not help her with her notes today. And yet, every day, as soon as she hesitated or began to get tense, I'd find myself picking up my pen. I guess I was trying to prove something. To myself, or to her, I wasn't sure.

"And just how long are you going to continue pining after that _girl?_ "

It was toward the end of February. I had just sneaked a glanced at Bella across the cafeteria, but hadn't been sneaky enough. Rosalie, always ready to jump on me these days, had noticed.

"You know, if she's really bothering you this much, we could just get rid of her."

I barely had time to snarl at the veiled threat before Emmett laughed and slung his arm around Rosalie. "None of us is going to lay a hand on her, Rose. We can't kill Eddie's first crush! Even if he is all emo about it."

Rosalie sniffed and picked at her food. "I think it would be better if _Eddie_ just went back to moping over nothing for eternity. This having an actual object to fixate on is really obnoxious."

I found myself calming down despite myself. Jasper wasn't taking sides in this fight, but he knew what a danger it could be for us to start arguing in public.

Rosalie also relaxed, but shot a glare at Jasper. He shrugged. "Not the time or place."

"Fine." Rosalie got up and stalked out of the cafeteria.

I quickly followed suit. Rosalie was the most angry of my siblings, sure, but the others liked to take turns chiding, teasing, and complaining. I wasn't about to give them another opening, not today when Rosalie had already started on the topic.

I sat in my chair, waiting for Bella's arrival. Her scent, by now familiar yet still enticing, pooled around me. She got out her notebook. The bell rang.

Mr. Banner began handing out the test we'd taken the day before, his mind full of his plans for the next unit, some of which he still had to prepare for class today. He intended to give the class a few minutes to chat while he finished. Great. Mike always took the opportunity to sit at the table in front of Bella and talk to her when we had class breaks. I hated it when he did. It wasn't fair that that shallow, hormonal boy was allowed to talk to her when I wasn't!

Mr. Banner passed our table, dropping the last two tests in front of me and Bella. I put mine away immediately. I didn't have to look to know I got a perfect score.

Bella gasped beside me, the soft noise almost lost in the chatter that was blooming in the classroom.

I turned toward her before I could remember to think better of it, and found her staring, shocked, mouth hanging open, cheeks slightly pink, at a test which had a big red "A-" circled at the top.

 _What's he looking at, anyway?_

I looked away from Bella, trying to seem casual about it, as Mike came up to the table. His angry, jealous thought made me angry in return. Of the two of us, I had far more cause to be jealous. It wasn't him who Bella positively refused to talk to.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Mike seated himself familiarly on Bella's side of the table. "What'd you get?" he asked, turning his mind away from me to thoughts of Bella instead.

Bella laid her sheet flat facing him, her blush intensifying as she smiled wider. I took some satisfaction in seeing Mike's face fall a tiny bit - he'd gotten a C. "I guess all that extra studying paid off?" I gathered from his mind that Bella had been turning down invitations from him by saying she needed to study hard to catch up.

"Mmm-hmm." Was it my imagination, or had Bella glanced my direction as she answered?

Mike sat for a moment in silence, gearing himself up for something. My eyes widened as I read in his mind what he was intending. "Bella?"

"Yes?" Bella looked up from her test into his eyes. Eye contact was not usually something she did. My hands curled into fists.

Mike's words came out in a rush. "I was wondering... who are you planning to ask to the spring dance?"

Bella was silent a moment, the blush fading from her cheeks. It seems she knew as well as I did that he was asking for... personal reasons. "Mike," she said gently, "I _really_ don't do dances."

"I know, but..." Mike's thoughts briefly recalled a similar conversation, that time about the Valentine's Day dance. "I thought..."

"And," Bella added more softly, "I know that Jessica asked you to that dance this morning."

Mike's face fell. The obnoxious boy had given Jessica a maybe, in the hopes that his one true crush would finally ask him out. "But... I wanted to get to know you better. You've been so _busy_."

"How about this," Bella said, speaking in a measured tone I recognized as coming from her script, "next time you have something planned, I'll make sure I can come."

Mike heard this gladly, making up an outing on the spot. "I think a bunch of us had plans to go to Port Angeles this Sunday."

Bella nodded slowly. She seemed to be thinking of something else. "Sounds good. Can you pick me up?"

"Of course! I think we were planning on leaving around two."

"I'll be ready."

"Great!" I watched with narrowed eyes as Mike made his way back to his table, a spring in his stupid step.

"You should see your face."

Bella's voice was quiet, and somewhat hesitant, as if teasing was something she wasn't used to doing. I instantly forgot Mike to look at her. She was looking down at her paper, her finger tracing the A-. "Thank you for your help," she whispered.

"Oh, you're talking to me now?" I said lightly, striving to keep my voice casual.

She winced, her cheeks pinking again. "I suppose I deserve that. Look, Edward - " I was disgusted with myself for feeling a tiny thrill when she said my name - "I - I'm sorry."

I let out a breath as Bella continued talking, her voice sinking lower as Mr. Banner began to call the class to order. "I know I've been very rude to you these past weeks. I just - I panicked that day. I was so afraid of..." she shook her head. "Never mind. But thank you. I'm sure I wouldn't even be passing this class if not for your help."

And then she picked up her pen and hunched over her notebook.

I sat stunned as Mr. Banner began his lecture. Half of me was still angry - I'd waited patiently and helped her for _weeks_ to get a vague 'thank you and I'm sorry'? - but the other half, the half that had kept me hopeful this whole time, was elated. She'd talked to me. She'd tried to tease me. She'd _talked_ to me.

And maybe, my hopeful side pointed out, I should give her the benefit of the doubt. She obviously felt bad about how she'd been treating me. She'd mentioned being afraid. Of me, perhaps; after all, I had wanted to kill her the first day we'd met.

I was distracted from my thoughts by the sudden lack of activity beside me, a sure sign Bella was confused. I reached for my pen but, before I could figure out where Mr. Banner was and start writing, Bella turned her notebook toward me. She'd written a question at the bottom of her notes.

Well. That made it easy. Instead of guessing what had tripped her up and how, I merely answered the question in my own notebook, writing a few quick sentences to explain the concept that she was having trouble understanding. She scribbled a "thanks" and continued her notes.

I couldn't suppress my rising spirits throughout the rest of the class. She needed my help a few times more, and each time wrote a question instead of waiting for me to figure out what she needed.

Mr. Banner wrapped up the lecture with a few moments to spare before the bell rang. I sat, tense and waiting, as Bella packed away her notebook. Normally she would get up and leave class, not even waiting for the bell, but today when she finished she sat still, staring at the table.

"Thanks again," she said.

"You're welcome."

"I'll - I'll see you tomorrow?" The commonplace phrase came out like a question.

"Yeah." I couldn't help smiling. "See you tomorrow."

Bella glanced my way, blushed hard, and ran for the door as the bell rang.


	6. Chapter 6: Blood

I couldn't have told anyone what happened in my last class, what any of my siblings had been thinking on the car ride home, or what I music I listened to that night. My thoughts were full of Bella. She'd talked to me. She'd apologized. She'd thanked me for my help. She'd turned my attempts at a lecture-within-a-lecture into a simple tutoring exercise. And she'd _talked_ to me.

I was more excited about it than I should have been, given the way she'd been ignoring me for weeks, but the part of me that wanted to forgive her was rather strong. Even not knowing what it was she'd been afraid of, I could appreciate that fear might cause her to pull away from me. And I of course could understand pushing people away in order to keep secrets.

My distraction lasted up until I met my siblings at the car the next morning for class, but then I shaken out of it by realizing something was off. "Where's Jasper?"

Rosalie snorted and thought something derogatory I didn't pay attention to. Alice raised an eyebrow. "Blood typing day, remember?"

Oh yes, Alice and I had brought the release forms home a week ago. We'd both been excused by Carlisle, of course. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper, being upperclassmen, didn't have the class; but Jasper was too worried he'd lose control even without being in the class and opted to stay home.

As for me, I was just supposed to go do homework in the library. But the library wasn't where Bella was going to be, and I'd been thinking all night of where she was going to be - in her chair in biology, which was next to mine. And now mine would be empty, completely unlike how I'd imagined today's biology hour going. What if whatever delicate thing we'd started yesterday was crushed by my absence? Or worse, by that Mike creature?

I was on pins and needles the whole day, unable to pay attention in classes, barely remembering to breathe. I could only look forward to lunch, where I would do... what, exactly? I had no clue. I just had a vague hope that somehow, when I saw her in the crowded cafeteria, I'd be able to do... something.

In the cafeteria I slumped in my chair, not even bothering to pick at my food, waiting for Bella's arrival. She came in with Jessica, as usual, and I sought out the other girl's mind, hoping for something that I could use to get to talk to Bella. To my surprise and dismay, I found out that Bella wasn't even planning on staying in the room - she was making her excuses to Jessica. She wasn't feeling well; she'd probably go visit the nurse, maybe even just go home.

Jessica left her to get in line. I was already out of her mind, trying to think of how I could casually run into Bella at the nurse's office without looking too much like a stalker. But Bella didn't leave immediately. Instead, she watched Jessica go, then quickly scanned the room.

Our eyes met. She smiled a little. I couldn't help a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth in response. She looked away from me, glancing toward the windows lining one wall that showed the gray outside. She met my eyes again and nodded her head just slightly toward the windows, then turned abruptly and left the room.

I was torn for approximately six seconds - What if I'd imagined it? Wouldn't she have opened her mind to me if she really wanted me to follow her? - but the desire to see her again, and the worry of what she'd think if she did want me to follow her and I didn't, won out. I stood. "I'm heading to the library now," I said. The phrase shouldn't catch Rosalie's attention; the library was in the direction Bella had indicated, and it was where I was supposed to spend my next class period anyway. My siblings merely nodded, and I dumped my tray and left.

I caught Bella's scent quickly, and followed it not to the library or indeed any of the school buildings but instead to the forest which grew close to the school on this side. I'd only gone a few yards into the trees when I came upon the girl herself, sitting on a fallen tree with a packed lunch in her lap.

She looked up as I approached, but looked down again almost immediately. "Hi," she said, her voice a mere whisper.

"Hi."

We were quiet for a moment. I looked at her. She looked at the sandwich she held in her hand. Finally I had to break the silence, to soothe my own apprehension. "I wasn't imagining things, was I? You asked me to follow you out here?"

She nodded. "I thought - we could talk, maybe. Away from class, and from everyone else. And I knew you weren't eating anyway..." she trailed off, glancing nervously up at me.

Of course you did. I kept my face impassive. "You know, don't you. What I am."

Another nod.

"You've known since the first day."

"Yeah." She bit her lip a moment, then added, "But you can trust me."

I didn't need Rosalie here to know she was telling the truth. She'd had plenty of time to spill our secret if she wanted, and instead she'd kept incredibly silent and was now inviting me out for private talks in the woods. "I know."

She gestured to her side, without looking up from her sandwich. "You can sit. If you want."

There was plenty of room on the log. I sat about a foot from her, turned sideways with one leg up on the log so I could still watch her. Without her mind her expressions and body language were all I had to help me interpret the words she spoke. Thankfully today her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, giving me a clear view of her face.

She'd taken a bite while I was arranging myself, and was now chewing thoughtfully, her eyes still on the ground. She swallowed, glanced at me, bit her lip, put the sandwich aside. I waited. She'd invited me out here; she'd speak first.

"I-I wanted to apologize." She hunched her shoulders a little. "Again. What I said that day was... well, I don't like to remember what I said. And then I accepted your help for weeks without even thanking you. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," I said. And waited.

She heaved a great, shuddering sigh. "I'm sure you know what I mean," she whispered, "if I say something about how hard it is to blend in despite secrets."

"You can trust me."

She glanced at me. "I want to."

"You can."

"But I can't." She wrapped her arms around herself, compacting herself into a tight bundle of tension. "I've gotten in so much trouble, and I don't want to be sent away again." She looked up at me, tears sparkling in her eyes. "You have to understand. I've always been a failure."

I resisted the urge to pull her into my arms and comfort her, a strangely human impulse that I wasn't used to. "I understand," I said in a low voice. "You need me to not try to push you on your secrets."

"Yes." She exhaled loudly and looked down. "And - and in return... I think I can try being friends. If you want."

I couldn't help smiling. If I want? "I've been trying to be your friend for weeks."

"I know. I just... I thought you'd give up. Or that maybe you were just being nice."

"Friends are nice to each other."

"I know! I mean..." she sighed again. "I'm not very good at the friends thing."

I laughed. It almost felt strange to me - I usually laughed very little - but it seemed like the right thing to do. Bella relaxed somewhat and looked back at me. "I'm not very good at the friends thing either," I said. "We can figure it out together."

"Sounds good." She bit her lip again. She seemed to do it whenever she was nervous about whatever she wanted to say. "I have a question."

"Okay."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"What is it?" I asked, smiling encouragingly.

"Um..." She fidgeted with the hem of her sweater, then blurted out, "What does your family eat?"

"I've actually been waiting for this." Of course she'd wonder. I had wanted to kill her the first time I'd met her, after all. "We hunt animals. That doesn't mean we're not tempted," I added, as her brows furrowed. "But we resist taking human life."

She still seemed a little unsure. "Where do you hunt?"

"Deep in the forest. High up in the mountains. As far from civilization as we can get."

She caught a strand from her ponytail and twisted it around her finger. "So... in a case where one of you was within a few miles of town... then you weren't out hunting?"

"No, if we're close to town we're not..." I trailed off as I suddenly remembered the last time I'd been out in the woods a few miles from town. "This isn't a hypothetical, is it."

She looked confused. "Hypo...thet...ical?"

Of course, I'd found when helping her with notes that she struggled with big words. "You asked that because you were thinking of something specific," I clarified. "Such as, say, the Sunday after you first arrived here."

She pressed her lips together and said nothing.

"Yes, I was in the woods close to your house that day. But I wasn't hunting."

"You started tracking me." She was shrinking into herself again.

"Your scent surprised me," I said cautiously. I'd hoped we could get on a little firmer ground, friendship-wise, before I had to get into this. "I've gotten a lot more used to you now. It won't happen again."

"So you weren't out there looking for me."

"Not at all."

She relaxed again, letting out a breath. "Okay. That's what I thought, since you didn't come after me later... but I had to be sure."

"Of course." Thank heavens for Alice and her intervention that night. I'd have to give her a present to say thanks. Like a new car.

We sat in silence a moment. Bella picked up her neglected sandwich and looked at it with a contemplative air. "I guess I'd better either finish this or put it away," she said.

"Yes, I think the warning bell will ring in a few minutes," I said, pushing down my disappointment. Only a few more minutes until she went to class without me.

Bella looked at me with an almost sly smile. "I'm not going to class today."

"Why not?"

"Well..." she bit her lip. "I don't like the smell of blood."

"And?" I said, sensing that that wasn't the full story.

"And... I'm not sure what results I'd get."

I stared at Bella a moment as she packed up her food, debating whether it would be pushing her boundary to state the obvious. "Bella... you aren't human, are you."

"Would I be friends with a vampire if I were?" she teased, but without looking at me. She swung on her backpack and stood, heading out of the trees. I followed.

"So," I said, seeking a change of subject, "if you aren't going to class, what are you doing?"

"Going to the office to get excused for the day for being sick. I hate gym and figured I'd just get out of both classes."

I smirked at her. "I was excused to go sit in the library a week ago."

"Well, aren't you so prepared with your many years of experience."

I shrugged. "If it were up to me, I'd just cut, but Esme gets upset when I do that too much."

"Esme?"

"My mother."

Bella sighed. "I can't risk cutting. I'd get in so much trouble if I was caught."

"Chief Swan cares that much about your schooling?" I asked. I was sure that wasn't it.

Bella stole a glance at me. "No, it's others."

"The ones who sent you here?"

"Yes." She shifted her backpack on her shoulders. I thought I'd pushed too far, but she went on. "I was well on my way to flunking sophomore year at my last school, and here they said they'd be willing to overlook the first half of the year if I could do well this semester." She shook her head. "You've seen how well that's going."

"I saw you got an A- on the last test."

She smiled a little. "Yes, there is exactly one class I'm doing well in."

I smiled too, a plan beginning to form. "Would you like help with your other classes?"

"Would you like to cut class and help me with my other classes right now?"

I grinned at her. She blushed, hard, and started walking a little faster toward the office.


	7. Chapter 7: Blush

The blush still bright on Bella's cheeks, she put on a miserable expression and headed into the office. I followed her without thinking, which ended up working well; Bella said she was too ill to drive and that I'd volunteered to take her home, excusing both of us in one fell swoop.

We headed out to my car in silence. I was still trying to figure out the best way to talk to this girl. She, for her part, almost seemed to have forgotten me; she was walking quickly, her face set, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides.

"You seem anxious," I said lightly after we'd both climbed into the car.

Bella hesitated, biting her lower lip as she twisted her hands together. "This is - weird," she said finally. "I'm still afraid something terrible is going to happen."

"I won't do anything you don't want me to," I said.

"It's not you I'm - never mind." She sighed. "What do we have, an hour and a half? What can we get done in that time?"

I accepted the change in topic. "What exactly is it that you need to do?"

We spent the rest of the ride, and the walk up to her front door, discussing her overdue homework. Her math assignments and a half-finished English paper were determined to be the most important items, so we'd work on those. "I suppose if I need more help with the rest we can meet again?" Bella asked shyly, turning her key in the lock.

"Of course," I said. She pushed open the door – the one that I'd last seen as it was closed in my face – and we entered her house together.

Bella headed straight through the front room, dumped her backpack on the kitchen table, and turned toward me, her eyes on the floor. "I'll be right back," she said. "I need to - change." She darted away from me and up the stairs.

Well. Okay then. I sat at the table intending to pull out my own homework, but found myself listening for Bella instead. She climbed the stairs rapidly, then turned down a hallway, closing a door. There was some shuffling, some soft thumps, and solid thud, and then silence.

I was just wondering if I should be concerned when her footsteps started up again, and a couple of minutes later she came back down the stairs, dressed now in a long, soft, thin sweater and a flowy ankle-length skirt. She sat down by me without so much as glancing at me and pulled out her homework.

Despite brimming with curiosity about the thuds I'd heard, I held my tongue and buckled down to the serious work of trying to get her through her math worksheets. The trick, as with biology, was finding a way to explain the concepts that made sense to her; once she grasped the idea she was easily able to complete the problems herself, and being able to talk together instead of write to each other sped up the process considerably. We finished two assignments within the hour and then switched to English.

This was significantly harder. Her paper, written in drafts in a notebook, was not easy to read, and while she seemed to have a decent understanding of what the paper was supposed to be about she kept making grammatical and style errors that seemed incredibly simple - she could _speak_ better than this, so why was her writing so poor?

Finally, after working through the errors on the first couple of pages, I decided to ask what I'd been wondering the whole time. "Is English your first language?"

Bella blushed deeply, turning away with a jerk. "Y-yes."

"I ask because - "

"I know," Bella said harshly, cutting me off. She pushed her chair away from the table and stood in one quick movement. "I need to go outside, get some air."

"All right." I stood and followed her.

It was grayer and colder now than before, but be-skirted and barefoot Bella seemed to not care. She marched straight into the woods that edged her backyard, careless of the change of ground under her feet, and plopped herself down on a large-ish rock with her arms folded tightly across her chest. There was just enough room on the rock for me to sit beside her. I sat and waited, motionless, trying to not get distracted by the heat radiating from her or the fact that our hips were nearly touching.

"Sorry," Bella said after a few moments of silence. "I - I just..." she heaved a sigh. "Bad things usually happen when people start asking me that sort of question."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

She glanced at me, a quick, nervous movement. "I know." She bit her lip for a moment. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to ask questions?"

"Of course."

"I only learned to read and write five years ago."

I struggled to keep my face smooth, in case she should look at me again. "That would explain your difficulties."

"Yeah."

I had promised not to ask questions, but questions were all I could think of. Why had she only learned five years ago? If she had been able to read and write for only such a short time, how was she able to be in high school?

What _is_ she?

A cool breeze that tasted of rain brushed past our rock. Bella shuddered a little.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked.

"Not really."

I opened my mouth to point out the obvious lie, but Bella got in ahead of me. "Don't you need to go pick up your siblings soon?"

I sighed. Hang my siblings. "Yes, I suppose so."

"Then we should go back inside." Bella pushed herself off the rock and headed back to the house.

I obediently followed Bella back inside the house, feeling a distinct sense of whiplash. Bella was open one moment, closed the next, had sudden changes of mood, and I had none of her thoughts to help me prepare for any of it. I wasn't used to this.

Bella waited by the table while I picked up my backpack, fiddling with the hem of her sweater and biting her lip. Recognizing that she wanted to say something, I paused, my backpack slung over one shoulder. "Yes?"

She flushed. "I just had a question."

"Okay," I said patiently.

"Is there something I could do... to learn English better? To write better?"

"Practice, of course." Bella made a face, and I found myself chuckling. "Although actually, the best way to improve your writing is to read more."

"Really?"

I nodded.

She was biting her lip again. It was starting to look swollen; she'd frequently chewed on it while we were working on her homework. "Stop that," I said, reaching up without thinking and tapping her lip. "You're going to hurt yourself."

I of course knew by now that Bella was a blusher, but this was something else. I'd never seen someone turn such a crimson hue so fast. It extended from her hairline to the tips of her ears all the way down to the swooped neckline of her sweater. Her scent also intensified, but I barely noticed the automatic pooling of venom in my mouth; I was too busy cursing the block that kept me from her mind. What I wouldn't give to know what thoughts accompanied such a sudden and violent reaction!

Bella cleared her throat suddenly, putting her hands on her cheeks – as if that would hide her blush - and slightly turning away from me. "Did – did you –" her teeth touched her lip, but she quickly pulled them away again - "do you really want to keep helping me with my homework?"

"Yes." It was all the response I could manage. Her hesitant way of speaking mirrored my own scattered thoughts.

I watched in fascination as she moved her hands nervously to her neck. Her skin must be so very warm right now. It would burn so deliciously were I to touch her again, perhaps for longer this time...

"Um." One of her hands slid down her neck, her fingers tangling in the neckline of her sweater. "Could you help me, then? Help me read. I get so... frustrated when I try by myself."

"I'd be happy to." Understatement. In this moment, I felt I'd do a lot of desperate things to ensure I got to be close to her.

"After school, then? We could start tomorrow. As many days as you can spare. Ch-Charlie doesn't get home until evening." Her blush was fading from her extremities, but her cheeks were still bright.

"I can be here every day, if you need me." A sudden thought made me pause. "Oh. But not until Monday. I'll be... out of town."

Her face fell for a moment, but then it seemed a thought struck her. "Is it going to be sunny this weekend?"

I smiled at her quickness. "Yes, starting tomorrow morning."

"Where are you going?"

"Goat Rocks Wilderness." I didn't add that the location was for Emmett, who was excited for bear season. I didn't need to give her that image.

"Oh."

We stood a while, her staring at the floor with pink cheeks, me staring at her, feeling some kind of... hunger, wanting, that I hadn't really known before. My fingers twitched. I curled my hand into a fist. "I should go," I said, hoping my voice didn't sound as reluctant as I felt.

"Yeah." Bella licked her lips, her hands twisting together on her chest. "Th-thank you again."

"You're welcome." I forced myself to turn and leave.

 **A/N: *peeks head around corner* H-hey guys. Sorry about that hiatus. School started and took me entirely by surprise, and then this chapter gave me a lot of trouble. It's still not as smooth as I'd like, but at this point I needed to just get it published and move on. Hopefully from here on out I'll be back to updating every week-ish. We're getting to some good parts. : ) Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8: Music

I was a little unsteady on my way back out to the car. What had happened in there? I settled in the driver's seat and took a deep breath to steady myself, but that only made me acutely aware of how much her scent had permeated the car in the short time she'd been here. Venom pooled in my mouth, but also something tugged at my cold, dead heart...

I quickly rolled down the windows and turned the air on full blast, hoping that that would be enough to air out the car in the - I checked the dashboard clock and cursed under my breath - ten minutes before school ended and my siblings were in here.

I found, however, that I didn't mind breathing the scent myself as I drove. Proximity to her seemed to be emphasizing the pleasant but not tempting spiciness; the sweetness that had nearly driven me to the unthinkable faded much faster into a faint undertone. Perhaps, if the others got to know her as well...

I shook my head sharply. Bella was barely comfortable allowing me to be close to her. It was too much to even hope that there might be a time when she'd be comfortable getting to know the rest of my family.

I sighed as I pulled into the parking spot I'd vacated a couple of hours earlier. The future was too tangled, and in a way that I was sure even Alice couldn't help. I'd concentrate on the present. Well, the very recent past. The moment I'd touched Bella's lip... her brilliant blush...

Emmett pulled open the passenger door, startling me from my reminiscing. He chuckled briefly. _Imagine, catching you by surprise for once. Are you losing your touch?_

"Hardly," I muttered, bracing myself for the moment of truth. Bella's scent was still lingering in my nose, on my tongue. Would Emmett notice?

 _Why'd you skip Spanish? Did someone come staggering into the library with a bleeding finger, and you needed time to bury the body in the woods?_

I winced, but played along with his twisted idea of a joke. "Sure."

 _Who was it?_ He glanced back as the door behind him opened. "Hey babe."

Rosalie froze, half-bent to get into the car. "That girl has been in here."

"What?" Emmett looked puzzled, then glanced at me. His face smoothed out and he grinned. "Oh, so it was her you had to bury in the woods?"

"Emmett!" I snapped.

Rosalie still hadn't moved, and was glaring daggers at me. "What was she doing in here?"

"I saw her outside during lunch," I replied curtly. "She wasn't feeling well, and I offered to give her a ride home."

Rosalie rolled her eyes, but accepted this answer. It was true enough, after all. She resumed climbing into the car, unwilling to completely drop the subject. "You're getting entirely too close to her."

"Not close enough, if you know what I mean," Emmett said with exaggerated emphasis. As I could read his mind, and did know exactly what he meant, I rewarded this comment with a smack to his arm.

Rosalie merely sniffed and turned to look out the window. _Maybe I'll see what Carlisle has to say about it. Or Jasper._

I didn't respond, choosing to not rise to her bait as Alice and Jasper climbed into the car. Someday she'd get over her unreasonable hatred of Bella. Probably.

But not tonight. Once we got home she marched inside the house, threw herself on the couch in front of the TV, and began flipping though channels at high speed. The fast pace was a deliberate method she used occasionally to keep me from reading beyond her surface thoughts, which meant she was having a hard time not thinking about something she didn't want me to know about. It might have made more sense for her to simply spend the night out of my range, but in her stubborn mind that would probably be some kind of admittance of defeat.

Alice sat at her computer and began working on her latest fashion project. Emmett, sensing Rosalie's mood though not sure of the cause, sat beside her on the couch and put an arm around her. Jasper contemplated going upstairs to pack what little he'd need for our 'hiking' trip, himself wary of Rosalie's mood, but decided he'd rather spend some time with Alice instead and pulled up a chair to watch her work. And I, after a few moments' deliberation, sat at my piano.

It had been too long since I'd sat here. Music was a huge part of my life, but since Bella appeared I'd let my own music-making fall by the wayside, opting for the mindlessness of playing one of my endless collection of CDs while I moped or rejoiced over the latest Bella development. But now the desire to create was once again burning through my veins, making my fingers itch.

I ran through some scales, testing the piano's tuning. Of course it was perfectly in pitch. I had Esme to thank for that; she kept everything in the house in impeccable order.

Esme herself was upstairs, and as she heard me start tinkering with some minor chords her mind turned from her blueprints for a new woodworking project to focus on me. _Edward's playing again._

As I decided on a key and a chord progression, Esme followed her impulse and came down the stairs to hear me more clearly. As I began teasing a melody from the chord progression, I heard her decide to pause in the doorway, not wanting to bother me. So I let the music take over.

I usually had images in my head when I composed. Today my mind dwelled on the dark forest outside, on the gray skies, and on wind with a touch of rain. The melody wound its way through the chords I'd chosen like the wind through the trees, always minor, keeping within the same octave. I wasn't sure where I was going with it and my fingers hesitated on the keys.

Esme came further into the room. "It's lovely," she said aloud, laying her hand on my shoulder. "What inspired it?"

I shrugged, trying to stay casual. "The weather outside today."

Rosalie, listening despite herself, snorted at this comment. She knew I was dodging the question.

She was right. The weather itself wasn't the inspiration. It was the girl I'd been sharing it with. Bella and her beautiful blush...

I smiled suddenly, my fingers back on the keys as, with a drawn-out sequence, I led the piece from minor key to brilliant major. I threw in some chromatic notes, surprises that kept it interesting, and briefly visited the original minor key before coming to a sweet ending cadence in the major.

"It's short," Alice commented. _Because you aren't sure that's the ending, right?_ She flashed a grin at me.

"I think it's wonderful," Esme said, forever the supportive mother. "Would you play it again?"

I nodded, but before I could touch the keys Alice gasped. She turned to Jasper and patted him on the arm, smiling. "You aren't 'going hiking' any more. Peter and Charlotte are coming to visit!"

Jasper smiled as Emmett grumbled at our little hiking trip being cut down from three people to two. And I was frozen in place.

Peter and Charlotte were two vampires, a mated pair Jasper had known during the first half of his vampire life. They'd also chosen to leave the warring life Jasper had been turned for, but unlike him they hadn't given up their... original hunting habits.

And there was a new extra-good smelling person in town.

"They'll be here Saturday morning," Alice was saying, over Emmett's complaints. "They're not staying long, though; I think they're on their way to Canada."

Esme's hand on my shoulder squeezed gently. _Is everything all right? You've gone tense._

I nodded, trying to relax my shoulders as I thought furiously.

Emmett would never let me hear the end of it if I canceled the trip, or even tried to postpone it until Jasper's friends were gone. And Esme would object to us missing extra school, beyond the sunny days we had to miss, in order to go hunting next week instead of tomorrow. And to cause that much of a fuss would generally draw more attention to me, and through me to Bella, than I wanted. I needed something more subtle.

I stood up from the piano. "Emmett, how soon can you be ready to go hunting?"

Emmett paused mid-grumble. "I'm ready now. Why?"

I turned to Jasper. "If we leave tonight and shorten the trip a little, we could be back in time for you to see Peter and Charlotte."

Emmett brightened at this idea. "Hell yeah! You aren't getting out of the beginning of bear season that easily!"

Jasper sighed but smiled. "All right, let me pack." He kissed Alice on the cheek and headed upstairs.

"You boys have fun." Esme hugged me, then headed over to Emmett on the couch.

Rosalie shot a glare my way, but I didn't pay attention to her; I wasn't finished with my plan. I headed out of the room by way of Alice, touching her hand. She nodded once without looking up, already aware of my intentions. _I'll meet you in your bedroom._

After living in a couple of houses where vampire hearing inconvenienced all of us, we made sure to do what we could to soundproof whatever new home we moved into. Therefore, with me and Alice behind the closed door of my bedroom, we could be reasonably sure we wouldn't be heard as long as we kept our voices down. But Alice didn't need to wait until the door was closed to address me. _I didn't know you liked Peter and Charlotte that much._

I ushered her into my room and closed the door behind us. "I don't. Any other time I'd simply leave Jasper behind." I took a step toward her, my hands out, my eyes pleading, Bella's face in my mind. "I need you to do something for me, and to not tell anyone else about it."

Alice was surprised by the emotion and seriousness in my voice. To be honest, I was a little surprised myself. _What's wrong?_

"Can you promise me that Peter and Charlotte won't arrive until Saturday morning?"

 _You know I can't._

"But could you look?"

Alice slowly nodded. _But tell me why, first._ I sighed in frustration, and she held up a hand. _If you can tell me why this is so important to you, I'll have a better chance of having a related vision._

Alice knew the most anyway, I told myself. She'd probably guess sooner than the others. And having her on our side could help prevent other, worse possibilities. "It's Bella," I said in a low voice. "I – I don't want to leave if there's a possibility that... that others could..."

Alice nodded, her eyes full of understanding. _I should have guessed._

She headed to my couch over by the window, plopping down and getting herself comfortable. I followed, perching on the edge of the seat, my mind fully focused on Alice's.

Alice's mind slowly quieted, focusing hard on Peter and Charlotte and her most recent vision on one hand and Bella on the other, trying to see if there was a tie between them. She had a slightly different vision of the two vampires arriving somewhat later in the day, but it didn't seem concerning. She had a fuzzy, brief vision of Bella coming home after school. Several other visions, too nebulous to glean any information from, surfaced and sank back down. And then a clear one materialized.

It was a familiar dock in Port Angeles. Alice, and I through her, were watching a nervous-looking Bella approach the railing. Several people were standing at various points along the dock watching the sunset. Bella seemed to be approaching one of them, a man with hair as dark and nearly as long as hers.

He glanced at her as she joined him. She nodded to him, and they stood together, side-by-side, to all appearances watching the sunset as two strangers who happened to be in the same spot on the pier.

But they weren't strangers. After a moment he reached out and touched her shoulder, turning fully to face her. She glanced at him, giving me and Alice a quick view of her miserable expression. The man pulled her into his arms.

The vision ended.

Alice and I sat quietly, both of us thinking about the vision. "Well," Alice said finally, "she doesn't seem to be in danger."

I stood, taking several steps away from the couch. "No," I agreed, my voice flat. "She doesn't."


	9. Chapter 9: Shift

We'd split up to hunt, each of us tracking our favored prey, but it wasn't hard for me to locate Emmett when I was done. I didn't even have to listen for his mind; just for the roars.

"Back already?" Emmett called over to me. I wasn't even sure how he'd seen me around the bulk of the bear he was currently squaring off against. "What, that mountain lion get away from you?"

I settled myself down on a boulder far enough away to avoid attracting the bear's attention. "No, I just don't play with my food."

 _What's the point if it isn't fun?_ Emmett went into a roll to avoid a swipe of the bear's paw, laughing as it bellowed.

I rolled my eyes, but didn't bother responding. Emmett was about to wrap things up anyway. I looked away as he crouched and sprang, wincing at the crash as the two solid bodies met the forest floor.

Jasper jogged up as the bear's roars died away and sprawled on the boulder beside me. He was always so much more relaxed after hunting. _Did I get any on me?_

I shook my head. "You're doing much better than that overgrown child over there."

Jasper smiled, revealing teeth stained red. _I know better than to risk the wrath of Alice._

I looked down. The love that crept into his mind as he thought of Alice usually made me feel somewhat lonely, but today it made me... uncomfortable in a way I couldn't name.

Emmett, finally finished, came bounding over, with fur, blood, dirt, and leaves clinging to his clothes and hair. "What are we talking about?"

"How not to eat like a savage," Jasper said.

Emmett roared with laughter. "You're just whipped," he said. "And Edward's a prissy little princess. I know how to have fun." He dropped to the ground and started picking fur out of his teeth.

"Whipped," Jasper said, mockingly. "I'm not the one who has to compliment Rose fifteen times a day in order to keep her from breaking things."

"I don't have to sit through five-hour fashion shows."

"I don't have to grovel to ensure my car stays in working condition."

"I don't have to apologize for something I didn't do but that Ally saw in a vision and got mad at me for anyway."

"Yes you do, she made you apologize after you nearly ripped her favorite sweater last week!"

They both laughed. Emmett shook his head. "I'm telling you, Ed, don't ever get married." But despite his words, his mind was still full of fond thoughts of Rosalie.

"I have to admit, I don't understand either of you," I said lightly, struggling through my discomfort as I was surrounded with thoughts of intimate relationships. "It seems like so much work. Why on earth did either of you ever agree to it?"

Jasper smiled fondly, thinking back to the first day he'd seen Alice - she'd walked right up to him, looked him in the eye, and put her hand in his. Not even an introduction. And despite the cold of that day, and the fact that they were both vampires, he'd felt warm when she touched him. "I couldn't even begin to explain."

"I can," Emmett said. "Have you looked at Rose?" He growled under his breath, picturing something I desperately tried to block.

"You're such a gentleman," Jasper teased.

Emmett laughed. "Just joking." _Well, a little._ "Of course I love everything about Rose. She's the full package."

"If she's the full package, Alice must be two packages," Jasper said.

"She certainly buys enough clothes for two."

They both laughed again. Jasper, noticing my mood, put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Eddie, you'll find someone just as wonderful and exasperating eventually."

Wonderful. Exasperating. Warmth. Attraction. I shook off Jasper's hand and stood, swallowing against the tightness in my throat, speaking through the tightness in my chest. "We should head back. We can't miss the arrival of Peter and Charlotte, after all."

We returned late Saturday morning. As Alice's second vision predicted, Peter and Charlotte arrived in the early afternoon. I made an appearance just long enough to say hello and to hear the answer to Carlisle's usual question: when did you eat last?

Two days ago a hundred or so miles to the south, came the casual reply. Peter and Charlotte had long ago become acquainted with and accustomed to this way Carlisle had of reminding them to not hunt in the area. I headed back upstairs, relieved.

I stayed in my room the rest of Saturday and much of Sunday. I had no need to leave the house, not when Peter and Charlotte both stayed in it. And I had no desire for company, nor did Peter or Charlotte think much of me. Not that they disliked me, but they had always thought I was strange, even for a vampire. Apparently knowing someone in the room could read your mind is a concept one has to get used to.

I did finally leave my room when they began saying their good-byes. It would be rude of me not to, and at the farewell the second half of Carlisle's reminder would take place. I needed to know the answer to his question.

Charlotte and Alice were hugging. Peter and Jasper had just finished shaking hands, and Peter turned to Carlisle, thanking him again for his hospitality.

"You're always welcome," came the warm reply. "Where are you headed next?"

"We'll continue north." I held my breath. Port Angeles was north of here. "We're thinking of spending some time in Canada, maybe even head all the way up to Alaska and finally meet those Denali friends of yours." As he thought of their possible routes - mostly through deep woods, I was glad to note - his eyes lit up as he suddenly remembered something. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about a shifter in the area, would you?"

"A... shifter?" Jasper's confusion was echoed in the minds of my entire family.

Peter went on. "We thought we caught the scent of one in the woods on our way here, not too far from the town." Charlotte nodded beside him, remembering the patch of woods they'd been passing through. It looked vaguely familiar to me. "We could be mistaken, though; the scent was faint, and human enough that it would have had to be a fairly young one. As far as I know they never send the young ones out alone. I hear they can be even more trouble than a newborn vampire." He chuckled a little.

My family was exchanging glances, still confused... all but Alice who had caught my eye, her own eyes wide as her mind played a vision, just now prompted, of me speeding toward Port Angeles as the sun set.

It had helped her make the same realization I already had.

"If it was a shifter, they must have just been passing through," I said loudly.

Everyone turned to look at me, surprised. Most of them hadn't even noticed I'd come down the stairs.

I took a few steps closer, striving to look nonchalant, hoping against hope that Rosalie would wait until Peter and Charlotte left to point out the lies I was about to tell. "I've been out in the woods a lot lately, including where you two were - I recognized the place you thought about just now, Charlotte - and didn't notice anything unusual."

They both looked uncomfortable. "O-or in the town?" Peter said. "They pass for human a lot more easily than we do..."

I shook my head. "Nope, nothing out of the ordinary."

Peter let out a breath, looking away from me. "We just wanted to be sure you knew. They can't keep close tabs on us nomads, but if they knew about you there would almost certainly be... trouble. You're outside of the Volturi's protection, after all, and your lifestyle doesn't do them any favors." Unfortunately, his discomfort with me and the subject kept him from thinking about what he meant by such a statement.

"Thank you for the warning," I said firmly.

We all stood around awkwardly for a few seconds before Jasper broke the silence. "Well." Peter turned to him, eager to forget his unsettling impression of me by focusing again on his old friend. "If you cross paths with Maria, tell her I wish her well."

"I doubt we will," Peter said with a half-forced laugh. Maria disliked him nearly as much as she did Jasper. "But I'll tell her, if we do happen to see her."

Another round of handshakes and embraces later, and with only one nervous backward glance at me, they headed for the front door.

The door closed with a click behind them. Two figures, running now, flashed past the window. My entire family stood still and silent.

Well, it was a kind of silence. The cacophony of thoughts was almost overwhelming.

Rosalie broke the silence first, as soon as she could be reasonably sure Peter and Charlotte were far enough away to not hear or see. "Carlisle, everything Edward said just now was a lie." She glared as if to turn me to ash on the spot.

"I got that impression, considering none of us know what a shifter is," Carlisle said, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. _You've run out of time, son._

I swallowed hard. I could take Rosalie's anger, but disappointed Carlisle was another matter. "For the record," I said, trying to keep my voice steady, "I don't know what a shifter is either."

Rosalie's mouth dropped open as she realized I was telling the truth. "But - you - "

"However," Carlisle said, speaking over her, "you do know _who_ a shifter is."

Everyone stared at me. I nodded.

Nearly everyone in the room made the same connection at the same time. Carlisle had already figured it out, of course. And Alice, she'd known in almost the same moment I had.

Rosalie screeched, trying to throw herself at me. Emmett barely managed to hold her back. "THIS is what you've been hiding this whole time?"

But she was all bark, no bite. No, the real danger lay with someone who'd made the Bella-shifter connection, and gone one step further.

Bella is a shifter. Shifters cause trouble. Shifters are a threat.

Bella is a threat.

His mind was already sorting through possibilities.

"Jasper," I said, unable to keep a growl out of my voice, "no one is going to touch her."

Alice laid a hand on his arm. Jasper deliberately met my eyes, taking Alice's hand and pulling her close to him, wrapping his arms around her. "You're right. No one is going to touch her."

We did not mean the same her.

A vision sprang up in Alice's mind. Bella and Jasper, squaring off in the woods behind her house.

"No!" I nearly jumped Jasper then and there, but submitted to Carlisle's restraining hand on my arm. "She's not a threat to us!"

"I think," Carlisle said quietly, "it's time you actually explained yourself, and her."

"Please, Edward," Alice said, her mind rotating through different locations and times of day where Jasper could attack. Now I was in those visions, fighting to defend Bella. Sometimes Rosalie was, on Jasper's side. The family was splitting up before Alice's eyes.

 _Can't you see you're putting me in danger?_ The memory of Bella's voice echoed in my head.

I had tried so hard, and it had still come to this. Emmett had his feet firmly planted, though Rosalie had stopped fighting for now, contenting herself with glares and unspoken insults. Jasper had Alice pinned to his side as she reeled with vision after vision, trying and failing to see a path in the future that did not involve all of us fighting. And Carlisle and Esme stood side by side, radiating disappointment.

I started with the most pressing thing, the person I most needed to convince. Even Rosalie's feelings of betrayal, her steady stream of insults and curses, were nothing compared to Jasper's already firm decision. "Bella Swan is not a threat to us. I swear it."

"And how do you know that?" Jasper said, with deadly calm. "You know Peter's thoughts and feelings about... 'shifters' better than I do, and I get the impression you don't have much on your side to counteract what he said."

"Which is an unusual state of affairs for you, Edward," Carlisle added. I pressed my lips together. "Are you asking us to believe that she never thought anything indicative around you? Or are you just saying that you know her perfectly but kept it from us?"

"Neither," I said, hoping my voice didn't shake. "The truth is, I've only been able to read her mind twice -"

"What?" Rosalie's shriek cut off the rest of what I'd been about to say. "You can't read her mind? And you kept that from us this whole time?"

I nodded.

Rosalie shrieked again, fighting against Emmett's encircling arms. Yet another vision popped up in Alice's mind - Jasper, Rosalie, and now Emmett squaring off against me.

"Edward." Carlisle's voice was colder now than I'd ever heard it. I didn't dare face him as he spoke to me. "What explanation do you have for putting this entire family in such danger?"

I stared down at my hands. I was sure this answer would not go over well. "Because... because she was in danger first. The day that she was nearly hit by the van, when I took her home... she accused me of putting her in danger." I hesitated a moment, not liking to admit that I'd put a near-stranger over my family. "At the time, I couldn't... I didn't like the idea of immediately making her accusation true."

"You feared she'd be in danger if you told us all you knew of her," Carlisle clarified.

"Yes," I said. Despite my shame, some small anger, some desire to protect this girl rose in my chest. "And what has happened tonight has only proved that belief true."

Jasper flinched mentally, but Alice's visions did not change. "You still haven't given us any assurance that she's actually not a threat."

Fine. I'd lay it all out on the table. "She and I talked on Wednesday," I said. "She did not let me back in her mind, but what she said corroborated things I had already observed or assumed. For example, she said she'd known I was a vampire from her very first day of school."

I hurried on to prevent the outburst I knew Rosalie was gearing up for. Even Emmett was starting to have uneasy thoughts. "I admit, I had wondered... something in her eyes when she'd first passed me in biology had made me think that she might know. But when she brushed off her classmate when he wanted to ask her about my actions, and when we got no hint of anyone else in the town having any idea about it, I convinced myself that I was wrong."

Jasper shook his head. "But even convincing yourself she didn't know, you knew she was different and you didn't tell us. How do you know you're telling the truth now? Your loyalty to the family seems to be shaken."

I had always prided myself on keeping my temper. My hands curled into fists as I tried to keep it now. "I don't see why loyalty to my family should mean harming an innocent girl."

"An 'innocent' girl who could be the undoing of us all," Rosalie spat out. "Whatever she is, Peter knows she's a threat and that there are more of them!"

"Bella means us no harm!" I replied, some anger creeping into my tone. "And as for the others... she told me this week that there were more like her, but in such a way that assured me she herself feared them."

"All the more reason to think she'd tell them about us, and they'd come after us!"

I shook my head. "She was deliberately distancing herself from me in order to prevent attracting unwanted attention from the others!"

"Enough." Once again, Carlisle's steady voice cut through our noise. My body relaxed as I realized what he was thinking. "Edward, if you are telling the truth now -" I nodded emphatically, meeting his eyes for the first time since this whole fiasco had started - "then, while I think Miss Swan not quite in the clear, at the very least we do not need to take immediate action. She has known for months and not said a word, after all."

Jasper muttered something under his breath, but I could see his resolve waver for a just a moment - and a moment was all Alice needed. She sighed loudly as a new vision broke through, one that caused a hitch in my own breathing.

Alice spun in Jasper's arms, reaching up to hug him. "I know you want to protect me," she said, speaking to him, but loudly enough to be clearly heard by all of us. "But you don't need to protect me from Bella. We're going to be great friends."

In her mind, Alice was performing her current action - hugging - but the recipient was the much-smaller Bella. I swallowed against a lump in my throat.

The tension in the room lessened. No matter his own thoughts on the matter, Jasper did not go against Alice's visions. "You're sure?"

"Mm-hm!" Alice pulled away to smile at the whole room - wilting Rosalie, relieved Emmett, calm Carlisle, pleased Esme.

I looked away from her gaze. The vision had caused a tightening in my chest that I didn't know the reason for.

Carlisle stepped forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. "It's up to you to prove that my decision, and Alice's vision, are correct."

"Of course." I glanced out the huge front window. The sun was beginning to set. "I need to go."

"Now?" Esme said, surprised.

I nodded, already heading toward the front door. "I need to make sure Charlotte and Peter steered clear of Port Angeles."

It was an incredible relief to close the door behind me, get into my car, and leave all the thoughts and emotions behind.

Soon, I would see Bella again.


	10. Chapter 10: Dinner

I made it to PA in record time, even for me. I always liked to drive fast but tonight I was a little reckless. But I had a small window in which to act: Alice's vision had been of Bella while the sun was setting, so the longer I waited after sundown the harder it was going to be to find her.

I parked near the pier I'd seen in Alice's vision several minutes after the sun dipped below the horizon. I waited several more minutes, fidgeting in my car, just to be sure, then slipped out and walked quickly down to the water.

Apparently watching the sunset from the pier was a popular activity; several couples and small groups were heading away from the pier, back to their cars. I took a few steps to the side of the main group, scanning the crowd for Bella.

Instead, I saw another face I recognized: the man I'd seen meeting Bella in the vision.

I quickly walked several steps sideways, putting more distance and more people between us. I also kept my mind to myself. It was reasonable to assume this man was also a 'shifter,' like Bella, so the last thing I needed was for him to notice me.

Thankfully he didn't so much as glance my direction. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and continued making my way to the pier.

Bella was exiting the pier just as I reached it. She caught sight of me and stopped dead, going pale. "Edward!" she hissed. She looked around quickly, then grabbed my hand - the sudden warmth was almost a shock - and pulled me in the opposite direction the man had disappeared in, putting the structure of the pier between us and him.

After we'd gone about fifty feet she stopped and, after throwing another glance over her shoulder, dropped my hand and faced me, less than a foot from me. My hand was tingling. I could feel her body heat radiating toward me. Her scent, heightened by her agitation and the faint flush on her skin, pooled around us. I swallowed down excess venom, but it was fairly easy today to keep her humanity in mind; my throat was barely burning. I struggled to collect my thoughts and focus on Bella's distressed expression.

"What are you doing here?" Bella asked urgently, her voice pitched quite low.

"I was worried about you," I said, matching her volume. "We had visitors this weekend, friends of Jasper's. I wanted to be sure they didn't cross paths with you."

To my surprise, Bella laughed a little. "Really. And here _I_... never mind. Wait -" she frowned. "How did you know where to find me?"

"I was there when Mike invited you," I pointed out, trying to stall. Usually I was good at talking my way out of things, but her closed mind and physical proximity were making it incredibly difficult tonight.

She wasn't buying it. "Sun's been down what, ten minutes? You found me pretty quick for a town this size."

"Bella..." I hesitated. She raised an eyebrow. I gave up. "I have some things I need to tell you."

Bella groaned, putting a hand to her face. "I'm not going to like this, am I."

"Probably not," I admitted.

"And how long is it going to take?" Bella looked out at the darkening horizon. "My friends will be looking for me. They wanted to leave after sundown."

"It is after sundown."

"I know." Bella tugged on the neckline of her sweater - blue today, it went wonderfully with her pale skin - as she thought. "You can't give me a short version?"

"There is no short version. We could try tomorrow after school."

"I don't want to wait that long." To my surprise, I found I didn't either; now that I was going to tell her I wanted to get it over with. "How about… would you mind giving me a ride home?" She glanced at me, looking uncertain.

"I don't mind." Understatement. I hadn't seen her for days. I didn't want to let her go.

"Okay." Bella looked down, thinking. "We'll go find my friends, and you read their minds so we can get them to leave me with you without it looking weird."

"I'm not sure how possible _that_ is."

Bella smiled a little. "I know. But we can try."

Bella had left them earlier in the evening promising to meet them for dinner at a food stand near the water; it was likely, even though she'd stayed longer than she'd meant to, that they'd still be in the area. "I'm sure you can track them down if need be," Bella said as we headed that direction, walking close enough for her arm to occasionally brush the sleeve of my jacket. I found myself wishing she'd hold my hand again. I didn't dare try to take hers.

"Wouldn't they have called you by now, if they were leaving?" I asked.

"Um." Bella cleared her throat. "I don't have a personal phone. Actually I'm not allowed to have one."

"Not... allowed?"

"Don't worry about it." Bella began to walk faster.

It was just as well that she didn't explain; we were nearing the food stand in question, and not only were there more people here in general but some of them were looking for us. I spotted Mike's blond head easily as he stood in front of the food stand, looking back and forth with an uneasy expression. I honed in on his mind. _Where could she be? Should we call the police?_

"Mike is rather concerned about you," I murmured. "He's thinking about going to the police."

"I told him I might be late! He doesn't have to freak out about it," Bella muttered back, annoyance in her tone.

I couldn't help smiling at this response, and it was at that moment that Mike noticed us. His relief in seeing Bella was quickly marred when he saw me close beside her. He waved, trying to keep a scowl off his face. _What the hell is he doing here?_

The others in the group looked up as we approached: Angela, with a smile and wave; Eric, with only mild interest before he returned his attention to his phone; and Jessica, who smiled with narrowed eyes. _Why is she with him? Did they plan this? Is this a date?_ She was torn between curiosity and jealousy at the thought.

"Bella!" Mike said as we got within earshot. "We were getting worried." _Did he follow us up here? I knew I shouldn't have talked about this trip in front of him!_

"I'm sorry to worry you," Bella said. She gestured to me. "I met Edward over by the pier, and we lost track of time talking."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. _Sure you did._

"I'm sorry, but we ate without you," Angela said, sincere as always. "I'm sure you could get something to eat in the car, though."

That gave me the perfect opening. I turned to Bella, who looked at me, and spoke in a gentle voice. I had only this short speech to counteract my reputation for being standoffish, rude, and vaguely threatening. I didn't want them worried about leaving Bella with me. "I'm so sorry I made you miss dinner with your friends. I haven't eaten yet either; how about we get dinner together and I drive you home so your friends can still leave on time?"

Bella's eyes widened slightly, and even though I wasn't looking at her Jessica's thoughts became incoherent. I realized with chagrin that I'd laid on the charm a little too thick; apparently I'd have to work on finding a balance between 'standoffish' and 'come-hither.' "Yeah, thanks," Bella said, her voice slightly higher pitched than normal. She looked back at her friends. "I'll see you all at school tomorrow, then."

"See you," Mike said brusquely. _Stupid Cullen! Why can't I be that smooth?_

"Bye!" Jessica said with fake cheer. _This is so a date. She'd better tell me everything tomorrow. That voice..._

"Good night, Bella," Angela said with a smile.

"'Night," Eric said without looking up from his phone.

They all gathered their things. Bella waved as they began walking away, and the two of us stood for a while, watching them.

Once they were decently out of earshot Bella turned to me. "It seems like that went well."

"Well enough," I agreed. "Jessica is going to grill you for details tomorrow at school - she assumes this is a date - and Mike thinks I followed you all up here because he made the plans in front of me and hates me for it. But I'm sure you can handle the two of them."

"Probably." Bella sighed. "Okay, so where did you park?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I meant what I said about taking you to dinner."

"Oh." Bella blushed a little. "You don't have to, I can just eat when I get home."

"Bella. I _want_ to take you to dinner."

She blushed harder. "O-okay. Somewhere here, or...?"

"Come on." I began walking, away from the stands and the water. It was a good bet that there would be sit-down restaurants somewhere nearby, and I scanned nearby minds to see if anyone had gone somewhere they'd enjoyed tonight. Bella followed me.

Within a few minutes, guided by a recommendation someone didn't know they had given me, we arrived at a small Italian place. It was perfect - nice enough to make me feel like I was actually treating Bella, casual enough for her not to feel uncomfortable, and empty enough that we should be able to have a corner to ourselves.

I suggested to the hostess that she seat us in a secluded booth, far from the other patrons scattered around the establishment. I used the same voice I'd used before when with Bella's friends, and again it worked almost too well; the hostess fumbled over her usual greeting and naming our server, and even as she left her thoughts were scattered.

Bella clasped her hands lightly on the table, her lower lip caught between her teeth. "You're biting your lip again," I said. I curled my hand into a fist rather than reach out and touch her as I had last week. Would she blush again as she had then?

She quickly pressed her lips together, then spoke, not looking at me. "You probably shouldn't do that."

"Point out when you're biting your lip?"

"That syrupy voice. It gives you an unfair advantage. Turns everyone to mush."

"Do I turn you to mush?" I asked, only half teasing.

She huffed a little, still not looking at me. Well, that was a kind of answer. "How about that explanation?"

"What was it I was explaining again?" I said, trying to keep the atmosphere light. As much as I wanted this conversation over, I was still worried about it happening. Our friendship was still so fragile. Could I tell her anything without scaring her away for good?

"How did you know where to find me?"

Well, here we go. "I assume you know that vampires -" I hesitated only a little on the word - "all have some form of power."

She nodded. "You can read minds."

"Yes. And all of us have a different one. My sister Alice, for example, can see the future."

"Oh."

"Most of her visions come to her unprompted, usually when someone close to her - usually emotionally, but sometimes proximity also works - makes a decision that creates a distinct possible future. However, if she wants to, she can try to see a specific person's possible near future."

Bella's eyes narrowed. "So you asked her to spy on me."

"No! Well, not exactly…"

We both settled back in our seats as the waitress approached. I hadn't even realized we'd started leaning toward each other over the table. The waitress named the specials and asked what we'd like to drink. Bella, looking startled, requested a water and the first special the waitress had listed. I said I wasn't ordering anything with a smile that showed a few more teeth than was strictly necessary. The waitress left in a hurry. Good.

Bella stared down at the table. "Not exactly?" Her voice was hard.

"After I got home on Wednesday, Alice had a vision of Peter and Charlotte - those friends of Jasper's I mentioned - coming to visit. They know they're not supposed to hunt in the area, but I was worried about you anyway, since you… smell so good." I paused to gauge Bella's reaction, but she didn't flinch. "So I asked Alice to check if there was a possible future where they crossed paths with you."

"And there was?"

"No."

Bella sighed sharply, clenching her hands together. "Then why are you here?"

"Because when they left they said they were heading up north."

"But you just said there wasn't -"

"I asked Alice to look days before Jasper's friends arrived. Things can change, and Alice can't foresee them all, even if she tries." I hesitated, but there was no point in trying to keep this from her. "And… things happened, before they left, that made me particularly uneasy leaving it up to chance."

I fell silent as the waitress approached with waters - she'd brought one for me, 'just in case,' and wanted to know if I'd changed my mind about ordering. It took more restraint than I would have liked to admit to be polite until I got her to leave.

"Go on." Bella's voice was shaking, her knuckles turning white. I hated seeing her so upset, and took the risk of reaching across the table to place my hand atop hers. She jumped, but didn't move away; in fact, her hands relaxed slightly under mine. I took a deep breath and continued.

"Before they left, Peter mentioned they'd caught a strange scent in the woods, and asked if we knew anything about a 'shifter' in the area." Bella paled instantly. I swallowed, dropping my voice. "I realized almost immediately that they must mean you."

"What did you tell them?" Bella whispered.

"As soon as I realized, I spoke up to throw them off. My family was confused, but I managed to get Peter and Charlotte to believe that we knew what they meant by 'shifter' and that there couldn't be any nearby. They themselves admitted they might be mistaken - something about the scent being faint and fairly close to human."

"But your family?"

"My family, of course, knew I was lying to them, and they quickly figured out it was you I was lying for. Our friendship has not gone unnoticed by them." To put it lightly. "They demanded an explanation. Especially because Peter had implied that shifters, whatever they are, could be a threat not only to vampires in general but to us specifically."

Bella pulled her hands away, wrapping her arms around herself as if she were cold. "What happened?" she asked.

I hesitated. I wanted to be direct, but that didn't mean I had to share all the details, did it?

But I waited too long. Bella looked up. "They wanted to kill me." It wasn't a question.

"Jasper. Just Jasper." Bella opened her mouth, but I hurried on. "He was created to fight in vampire wars. He can't help but take any threat very seriously."

"And he thinks I'm a threat."

"Not any more."

"You're that convincing?"

"I did my best, I assure you. But in the end it was Alice. Her attempts to see the future were blocked by Jasper's determination, but once Carlisle - our father - agreed with me that you should be left alone, Jasper hesitated. That hesitation allowed a vision through, of you and Alice hugging." I pushed down my own remembered jealousy, that it had been Alice hugging Bella and not me. "She was sure this meant you two were going to be great friends."

Bella stared at me, her mouth open. "She was _hugging_ me?"

I nodded.

Bella clapped her hands over her mouth, smothering a sob. I sat helplessly and watched as tears ran quickly down her face and her shoulders shook. This must have been too much for her. Was I losing her?

The initial sob was the only one. Within a moment or two, Bella had slowed her breathing again, and began using her sleeves to dry her tears. I silently unrolled my silverware from the napkin and handed it to her. She took it carefully and resumed drying her flushed face. "So that's it? Alice says she's going to… to be my friend, and everyone else backs off?"

"Jasper would never go against Alice."

"Oh." Bella turned away as the waitress approached with her food, trying to hide the evidence of her tears. Thankfully the waitress hurried off this time without a word.

Bella dropped my crumpled napkin on the table, sniffling a little as she looked down at her plate. "What did I order?"

"Looks like some kind of ravioli," I said, surprised. "Forgive me if I'm not quite up to speed on human foods."

"Ravioli?" Bella stabbed one with a fork and examined it carefully.

"It's a kind of pasta."

"Oh. I know what pasta is." She tentatively put the speared food into her mouth, chewed a moment, sniffled again, and swallowed. "Not bad." She stabbed another.

I waited, letting her process and eat, not even sure what I had left to say anyway. I felt drained.

Bella looked up after a minute or two. "You… you look upset," she said quietly. Already the flush of tears was fading from her face.

"I'm worried about you," I admitted. "I'm sure that was a lot to take in. And without being able to read your mind… I'm not sure what you think of it all."

"I see." Bella looked down again, pushing pasta around her plate with her fork. "Honestly? _I'm_ not sure what I think of it all." She sighed. "I suppose, under the circumstances, it went rather well."

"You think so?" I asked cautiously.

Bella shrugged. "Your family agreed to not kill me, vampires who know exactly what I am were purposely misdirected, and Alice…" her lips trembled in an unsteady smile. "Alice is going to be my friend, apparently."

"And you're happy about all that?" I was cautiously allowing myself to hope, but needed to be sure.

The smiled grew. "I'm very happy no one is currently planning to kill me." She stabbed another ravioli and continued eating.

"And about Alice?"

Bella looked at me and laughed a little. "Is that what you're most worried about?"

"Your response didn't exactly inspire confidence," I replied, my mood continuing to rise. "There were tears, remember?"

"You'd just told me I'd had two brushes with death today. I had a lot of feelings."

"I get the idea you're deliberately eluding me."

Bella looked confused. "Eluding?"

"You're not giving me a straight answer. On purpose."

"Oh. Right." She ate another ravioli.

"Bella," I groaned.

"Okay, okay," she said. "I'll tell you." A pause. "In the car." She looked down, suddenly shy.

Then, it seemed, it was nothing bad; just something she was embarrassed about. I sighed in relief. "I was just worried you were upset about it."

"Why would I be?"

"Oh, I don't know," I said a little sarcastically. "You're sitting with a vampire who told you his vampire brother wanted to kill you today and his vampire sister wants to be your friend. I would think you might be a little hesitant about the latter."

"'Latter' means the second one, right?"

"Yes." We really needed to work on her vocabulary.

"Well." Bella paused to chew and swallow. "I'm friends with you, aren't I?"

Warmth, happiness, blossomed in my chest. I had to smile. "Yes."

She smiled back, even the corners of her eyes crinkling - she didn't usually smile so widely. "And you're a vampire."

It took me a moment to gather my scattered thoughts. That smile was doing strange things to me. "But look at you. Just sitting there calmly just after all this happened. And you _were_ crying."

Bella reached across the table and patted my hand. "If only you could read my mind," she said with a mocking sigh.

The waitress appeared with the check before I could formulate some kind of response to Bella's sass. I quickly pulled out a bill and sent the waitress off with a 'keep the change.' "Are you ready to go?" I asked. The sooner I got Bella in the car, the sooner I'd get some answers out of her.

"Sure." Bella popped the last ravioli in her mouth and slid out of the booth. "Tell me… what are you writing your English paper on?"


	11. Chapter 11: Home

Bella kept up a casual conversation about homework all the way to the car. Though the topic was light, her actions betrayed her nervousness - she fiddled with the hem of her sweater, couldn't meet my eyes, and once or twice went to bite her lip before stopping herself and blushing.

When we reached my car I unlocked and opened the passenger side door for her. But she hesitated outside, her hand on the door, holding her breath.

"What are you afraid of?"

Though my voice was quiet, she jumped a little. "Nothing." She still didn't get in the car.

I searched her face for the answers she seemed unwilling to give me. "Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?"

"Both?" Her voice squeaked a little.

"You'll be safe with me, I promise."

"You're not who I'm afraid of." It was muttered under her breath, but she had to know I could still hear her. I opened my mouth to ask who, then, but she sighed out the breath she'd been holding and finally climbed into the car.

By the time I slid behind the wheel Bella was buckled, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She glanced my way, looking like she was trying to smile. "At least I have something to tell Jessica now."

"That's why we were talking about homework?" Bella nodded, and I chuckled, surprised. "Clever."

"Thank you." She sounded almost smug, but her hands were trembling in her lap, her nervousness etched in every line of her body.

I backed out of my parking space, wondering how best to start this conversation when she looked so worried. But before I could come up with something she spoke again. "Hey."

"What is it?"

"You never answered one of my questions." Her words spilled out in a rush, tumbling over themselves.

"Which one?" Hadn't I told her everything?

"You told me why you came looking for me, but not how you found me."

I ran through our conversation in my head. "I suppose you're right. It was Alice."

Bella sighed. "Of course. But - " She bit her lip for just a moment. "I thought she didn't have a vision of me?"

"She didn't have one of you and Jasper's friends, but she did have one of you." I briefly described the vision, staring out the windshield as I did so. I didn't want her to notice if my face or voice changed when I talked about the man I couldn't help but see as a rival.

She nodded when I finished. "That's more or less what happened." She thought for a moment, then glanced my way. "So you missing Jacob wasn't luck. You knew to avoid him."

"Yes." Jacob. I had a name to the face now. The fact that I was gripping the steering wheel tighter was surely unrelated.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Bella said quietly, interrupting my jealous thoughts.

"Of course."

"Don't do that again." Bella's shoulders hunched. "I have enough people checking up on me already."

Was that what Jacob had been here for? "I can't promise Alice won't have another vision of you - like I said, most of them are unprompted - but I can certainly promise not to ask her to look for you."

"Thanks."

Bella kicked off her shoes, putting her feet up on the seat and wrapping her arms around her legs, making herself into a compact bundle. "I guess it's your turn now."

For a moment, I considered not asking her. She looked miserable. But there was no hope for it; even if I didn't have my family's demands to consider, my own curiosity was burning inside me. I had to ask. I couldn't even think of a way to sugarcoat it.

"What is a shifter?"

Bella had pressed her forehead to her knees, and her voice came out muffled. "You can't guess?"

"I can," I said. "I assume it refers to _shape_ shifter."

"Yeah," she muttered.

"But that doesn't tell me what you can shift into."

"Animals." Bella sighed. "We shift into animals."

So that was why Peter had said my family's way of life didn't do the shifters any favors. How ironic. "Can you shift into any animal?"

"No. Each of us can only shift into one."

"What can you shift into?"

There was a pause. I glanced at Bella. She quickly looked away from me, resting her chin on her knees. "I'm... I'm a wolf."

I laughed before I could think better of it. Bella glanced at me, her brows furrowed. "What?"

"Sorry," I said with another chuckle, "but you're a _werewolf?_ As your vampire friend, I find that very funny."

Bella scowled, but she looked somehow relieved as well. "I'm not a _were_ wolf. Just a wolf."

"Okay," I said gently. Obviously she wasn't in the mood for teasing. "When did you first discover you could change into a wolf?"

"Um." Bella buried her head in her knees again and mumbled something even my advanced hearing didn't catch.

"What?"

"You have it backwards," she said a little more clearly.

"What do you mean?"

She made a noise halfway between a groan and sigh. "I was born a wolf, not a human. On a reservation in Arizona."

I stared at her for a moment, shocked. "How is that possible?"

She shrugged dejectedly. "How are vampires possible?"

"Hmm. Point taken." I reluctantly looked back at the road, needing to pay at least some attention. I was beginning to regret having this conversation in the car. I wanted to devote all my concentration to pulling these answers out of her. "Then, how did you first change into a human?"

But Bella was quiet. I glanced her way again, to see her looking steadily at me. "You're taking this well."

"Did you expect me not to?" I asked.

"Well. That's what happened last time."

"There was a last time?"

"Never mind." Bella sighed, again. "Usually there's signs. That an animal is a shifter, I mean. So when they're old enough, they get taken away and injected."

"Injected?" I repeated. This story was taking a turn toward horror movie, and the vampires hadn't even shown up yet. "They did that to you?"

Bella shook her head. "I didn't show any signs, so they didn't take me away."

"Then... how did you...?"

"I shifted on my own." Her arms tightened around her legs. "I had been old enough for months. The one other shifter born around the time I was had been taken away. Then, one night, a fight broke out between some of the adult wolves. I got pulled in somehow."

She didn't go on. "What happened?" I prompted gently.

Bella took in a deep breath and let it out. Her feet slid off the seat, her arms dropping to her lap. Her right hand grabbed the hem of her sweater on her left side, and she pulled the sweater up, revealing a six-inch scar in her side.

"Bella - " my voice was hoarse. I didn't know what to say.

"That happened." Bella's voice had changed. She sounded strangely calm. "It shouldn't have. First shift is to a child about ten years old, but I was only five or six. Shifters are born with a power, like vampires, and I should have been able to use mine, but I couldn't - or didn't. I'm lucky there was someone nearby to break up the fight."

That made at least three times now that Bella had faced death - that I knew of. I wondered how many more there could be. "Then they took you away?" My voice was shaking a little now.

"Yeah." Bella's sweater was covering her again, her hands loosely clasped in lap - much more relaxed than she had been when she got in the car. I wondered what the change had been, why she was so calm now. "I was given a name and a room in a big house with other young shifters. But I wasn't like them." One hand slid up, rubbing her arm as her story poured out of her. "For weeks, I couldn't shift on my own; they had to inject me, a lot, to get me to change. I eventually figured it out, but I couldn't hold it for long. Even now I can't. I sleep in wolf form every night, which most shifters my age can hold it for days.

"And it's not just that. After I could hold human form they started trying to teach me to speak, but though I understood them I couldn't say anything. They thought maybe I'd never talk. So they were just always in my mind, trying to understand me... which is why my block is so good.

"My power was unpredictable too. I used to accidentally throw things across the room whenever I was frustrated or scared. Now I have it a little more under control, especially after what happened with the van."

"What did happen with the van?" I asked. I'd always wondered how she got out of that.

"My power - " Bella paused a moment, biting her lip. "I never remember the word they use to describe it. Tele-something."

"Telekinesis?" I offered.

"Yeah, that."

"So... you saw the van sliding toward you, and you..."

Bella shook her head. "I've never used that much at once before. I didn't even think, I just put up my hand. And the next thing I knew, you were catching me as I fell to the ground."

I was thinking back to that day now, and things were clicking into place. "So, when you seemed so tired when I was driving you home, that wasn't shock, that was you reacting to using your power so strongly?"

"Yeah, which is why I told you leave me alone. I just needed to sleep." She flashed me a small smile. "My power is why I hate gym class. I see a ball coming toward me, and my instinct is to use my power to keep from getting attacked, not to play the sport."

I smiled too. "You know, I think I understand that."

She looked surprised. "You do?"

"I assume you know of vampires' strength and speed." She nodded. "It takes a decent amount of concentration for us to move and react at human speeds. We all hate gym too."

Bella was really smiling now, though she looked back down at her hands. "I didn't think we'd have anything in common."

"Aside from both of us being supernatural creatures hiding among unsuspecting humans?"

"Yeah, aside from the obvious. Us both hating the same class... it's so normal."

We both sat in silence for a while. I was still trying to figure out what to say, how to respond to her tale of her upbringing. Despite my current issues with my family, I couldn't help but be grateful for the mostly stable, mostly loving environment I went home to every day.

I finally settled on the simple. "Thank you for sharing your past with me."

Bella's cheeks were reddening. "Thanks for listening."

We were quiet again for a moment, then Bella sighed. "I bet you have more questions."

Only about a million. I started with next-most burning question, now that I knew what she was. "You did promise you'd tell me why you cried in the restaurant."

Bella blushed harder. "I was hoping you'd forgotten."

"I forget nothing," I said in an attempt at lightness, but Bella didn't respond. "Why don't you want to talk about it?"

"Because - because I'm not even sure why I cried," Bella said in a rush. "It just happened. Maybe - " she paused, almost bit her lip, but stopped herself and went on. "I think it might have been Jacob."

"What about him?"

"His hug." Bella leaned back in her seat, staring at the ceiling of the car. "He and his friends tried to make time for me, even though they were older. His hugs used to be so comforting. But tonight, it just wasn't." She sneaked a glance at me. "I didn't know why. But I've been thinking. When you told me about Alice and her vision, that she was excited to meet me and become friends, I realized - I wanted that. I think... I think here, Forks, is starting to feel more like home than Arizona ever did."

She was smiling again. I couldn't help smiling myself. I was happy, happy that Bella liked it here, that she wanted to be friends with Alice. It looked like something I'd despaired of might actually be able to happen - would I be able to introduce Bella to my family? Could we be that close?

We were both quiet again, but for the first time, it was a completely comfortable silence. Bella's heart rate and breathing were both normal (or close enough), her posture was relaxed, her hands loosely clasped.

I wanted to keep talking to her and searched around for an easier topic. I quickly hit on a brilliant idea. "So," I said gently, worried about how she'd respond to this, "you're a wolf."

"Yeah." Bella sounded a little hesitant.

"Might I get to see that sometime?"

Bella stared at me. "You want to see that?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"You wouldn't think it's too weird?"

I laughed softly. "It's just you. Why would it be weird?"

She stared at me another long moment. "You're weird," she said with finality, but another smile was tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Is that a yes?"

She finally looked away, staring down at her hands in her life. "I mean, if you really want to, I guess we could..." she shook her head. "But it would have to be far away from everyone. I can't risk anyone else knowing, and I can't risk Charlie seeing you."

"Well," I said, "I understand you're free on Saturday."

"Yeah."

"So why don't the two of us get together? Alice says it's going to be sunny, so we'll have a trade - you show me your wolf form, and I'll show you what a vampire looks like in the sun." I glanced at her. "I assume you've never seen a vampire in the sun?"

"I'd never seen a vampire before your family," Bella said. "I've heard you... sparkle. But that can't be possible."

I laughed. "It's very possible."

"Okay." Bella was smiling too. "But until then, you'll help me with my homework after school?"

"I did say I would."

My love for driving fast was working against me now. We were already back in Forks and approaching her house. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with her, but short of stopping the car - which she'd certainly find strange - there was no help for it. She was eventually going to have to leave me for the night.

I wondered if she felt the same way. I couldn't ask. For now, I'd rather not know if disappointment was a distinct possibility.

I parked in front of Bella's house. She looked up at me. "Thanks for tonight."

I wanted to touch her. I could easily recall how I'd felt when I'd touched her lip the other day, and the warmth she'd shared with me when I touched her hands today. But I kept my hands to myself. "You're welcome."

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Again, as with the first time, her voice sounded unsure, as if it was a question.

I nodded. "And we'll work on your homework."

"Thanks." Bella flashed me a small smile, then unbuckled herself, grabbed her shoes off the floor, and opened her door. She looked back at me before exiting. "Goodnight, Edward."

I loved hearing her say my name. "Goodnight, Bella."


	12. Chapter 12: Reading

Bella was no longer in my car, but that didn't mean that I wanted to go home yet. I wasn't sure what would be waiting for me there and I was reluctant to find out. Instead I drove the dark highways, barely leaving enough attention for the road while most of my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Bella.

Her expressions. Her words. Her tears. Her smiles. Her stories of herself. I ran through the entire evening again and again, committing everything to memory.

It was nearly dawn when I finally found myself driving toward home again. I still didn't want to face the music, but I was running out of time. I assumed I'd have to tell them _something._ I wasn't going to be allowed to head to school without making an appearance at home, and anyway, I wouldn't want to. Not until I could be assured that none of them would touch Bella.

The house seemed quiet and empty when I returned. A quick scan for minds showed that Rosalie and Emmett were actually gone, Alice and Jasper were cuddling in their room, and Carlisle and Esme were talking in their room. I headed upstairs to my parents and knocked on their door.

"Come in," came Esme's quiet answer.

I entered, staying just beyond the doorway. Questions swirled in the air between Esme and Carlisle. I waited for one of them to ask.

It was Carlisle who spoke first. "I made the others agree that they were not to take any action against you or Bella unless I gave the go ahead. Can you prove my decision the right one?

I nodded slowly. "Bella's not a threat to us. I'm sure."

"Explain."

I thought through the night again at high speed, pulling out the tidbits that would plead Bella's case. "I knew where to find her because of a previous vision of Alice's, where she was meeting with another shifter. I avoided this man myself, recognizing him from the vision, but when Bella saw me she pulled me away to make sure he didn't see me."

They were both pleased by this relation, but it wasn't enough.

"She was afraid when I told her about tonight, when she realized - I didn't even have to say it - that Jasper had wanted to kill her," I continued. "Afraid, not calculating or anything. And when I assured her that he wouldn't try anything, and explained the vision that had halted everything..." I hesitated, not wanting to say anything about her that she might be embarrassed having my parents know. "She was... surprisingly happy. She even surprised herself by how happy she was."

Confusion was visible on Esme's face and in her mind, so I continued trying to explain. "I get the impression that Bella's lived a somewhat isolated life, with few friends. The shifter she met tonight was one of those friends, but she said that, tonight, she was more happy about the idea of being friends with Alice than she had been in that shifter's visit."

Esme was smiling now, and even Carlisle was calmer - and relieved. He was trusting my words, and my belief in Bella, and he was glad. Though he'd do anything to protect the family, he would have been distressed to harm another to do so.

Hopefully that would be enough for now. And the sun was up - it was almost time for school. "Anything else?"

"Not right now." Carlisle stood from the couch he and Esme had been sitting on, reaching out to hug me. "You've done well." I read his acceptance and his forgiveness in his mind, and my shoulders relaxed as I returned the hug.

I was in my room changing for the new day at school when I heard Alice's knock on the door. I picked up what she had to say from her mind, but opened the door and waited for her to say it aloud.

"We're leaving without you." She said it lightly, but it was obvious from her mind that this was intended to be a slight toward me - even if Alice herself didn't mean for it to be. "See you at lunch."

"Maybe," I said, possibilities rolling through my mind. A brief vision flashed through Alice's mind in response - me, at Bella's doorstep. We both smiled. "That's a great idea."

"Let me know as soon as I can meet her," Alice said, nearly as happy as I was.

I nodded, and she headed down the hallway.

I waited until everyone else had left before pelting down to my own car, my chest tight and a wary smile on my face. I wasn't sure how Bella was going to respond to this, but nothing was going to stop me from finding out.

I parked at the end of her street, wanting to be sure to avoid Chief Swan. Looking ahead with my mind, I found his, and saw Bella through his eyes. She was eating breakfast at the kitchen table as Chief Swan cleaned his dishes, thinking about the day ahead of him. Turning from the sink, he paused briefly on his way toward the front door to give Bella a pat on the head. I was surprised by this gesture of affection but Bella gave him a small smile.

Chief Swan headed to the door right after and left. His car turned at one end of the road as I was pulling up in front of the house. Another moment, me moving just slowly enough to be unremarkable should a neighbor look out a window, and I was at the front door and knocking.

Bella's footsteps approached, and then the door opened a crack, Bella's cautious face peeping around it. Her eyes widened at the sight of me. "Edward?"

"I thought," I said, keeping my voice light and casual, "since I'm coming to your house after school anyway, we might as well ride together."

Bella opened the door a little wider, looking past me to my car. "Your siblings?"

"They rode with Rosalie today."

She gave me a look that I couldn't fathom the meaning of, but grabbed her backpack from the floor by the door. I waited by her while she locked up, then walked beside her to the car, taking care to get there just early enough to open the door for her.

Bella was silent as I pulled away from the curb. A glance in her direction showed that she was staring hard out the windshield. "Something on your mind?"

"I... I was just wondering."

"What?"

She shot a quick glance my way. "Are your siblings upset with you?"

Sometimes she was more observant than I wanted her to be. "You could say that."

"And it's my fault?"

"No!" I said quickly, before I had time to think. Then I had to hesitate, but continued with, "They're upset about you, I'd say, but it's my fault that things turned out the way they did. I could have found a way to keep my family informed while also protecting you."

Bella gave me a small smile. "It's okay. I could have handled this better too."

We reached the parking lot in a comfortable silence. For now, though I still had a million questions for her, I was content to just be with her. There would be time for questions after our relationship was a little more settled. This whole thing still felt incredibly delicate to me, and I didn't want to do anything that might overwhelm or scare her.

I took care to note where Rosalie's car was and parked far from it. I didn't want to risk running into them with Bella at my side, not until we had a few days between us and the night they'd wanted to kill her.

As we started across the parking lot, side by side, Bella hummed a little in her throat. I looked down at her curiously to see her biting her lip yet again. "Stop that," I said in a low voice, nudging her with my shoulder.

She jumped a little, but stopped biting. "I have a question," she said eventually.

"Yes?"

"Well..." she licked her lips now, pressing them together afterword. "How much do you read minds during school?"

"It depends on the day," I said, a trifle cautiously, uncomfortably reminded of how much I'd been watching her through the minds of others.

She glanced up at me, her brows furrowed. "I've been keeping my mind closed most of the time, just in case you try to read it."

"I haven't tried to read your mind at all." It was true enough to fool Rosalie, though it wasn't quite the full truth.

She let out a breath. "Good. Keep that up. And I'll start letting my mind open more. That'll be a relief. I was worried about trying to talk to Jessica today."

I had also been thinking about that conversation, and intending to follow it. But now I had a question. "Do you think you'd be able to tell, if I was reading someone's mind at the same time you were?"

"Probably not," Bella said thoughtfully. "I mean, your mind isn't built for two way communication like mine is..." she trailed off, and glanced at me again. "Do you often read the minds of people around me?"

Whoops. Caught. I tried to smile. "Sometimes?"

"You'll have to stop that." Her tone brooked no argument.

I shrugged helplessly. "I just wanted to know more about you."

"You could ask," Bella said mildly.

"That wasn't an option until just recently," I pointed out. "And you edit."

"Of course I do!" Bella shook her head. "You might not realize this, since you can't turn off your power, but - sometimes people should be able to keep their thoughts to themselves."

I suddenly recalled what she'd told me last night. The very words flashed through my mind - "I have enough people checking up on me already." Guilt, an emotion I was rapidly getting familiar with, rose up in my chest yet again. "I always find myself having to apologize to you," I said softly.

But there was that small smile of hers, again. "You can ask me, now," she repeated. "I'll answer."

"I am curious how your conversation with Jessica is going to go." I hesitated, then offered. "Want to sit together at lunch? My siblings are upset with me, after all."

"Won't us sitting together make them more upset?"

I shrugged. "I don't particularly care."

"Okay, fine." Bella was looking down, fiddling with the hem of her jacket, but I could hear the smile in her voice.

We were approaching her first class; I'd followed her all the way here without even thinking about it. She stopped at the doorway and turned to me, almost meeting my eyes. "I'll... see you at lunch, then, I guess."

I had to smile at her fumbling. "Yeah. See you."


End file.
